Nevertheless
by terriblegrace
Summary: After one Saturday night home alone, Casey and Derek begin to discover their true feelings for each other.
1. Empty House

_Part One: Empty House_

Derek awoke Saturday morning (or was it afternoon?), and lazily got out of bed. He struggled with this moment every day, when he finally had to force himself to begin the day. Walking to the bathroom, he slowly undressed and showered. The water felt nice against his skin. Stepping out of the shower, he wrapped a towel around his waist. Something seemed strange to him. But he couldn't quite put his finger on it. So, he shrugged and went back to his room.

It was halfway through dressing that he got the feeling again that something wasn't quite right. Shirtless, he peered into the hallway. Then he realized exactly what it was. It was quiet. Too quiet.

"It's never this quiet on a Saturday morning," he said to himself.

Derek jogged down the stairs and into the kitchen, where a note was stuck to the refrigerator.

_Nora and I are taking the kids to the zoo for the day. We'll be at the circus tonight. Behave, Derek. I mean it. _

_-Dad_

"Sweet," Derek said, crumpling the piece of paper into a ball and turning to shoot it into the trash can.

But as the paper flew out of his hand, he saw Casey standing there, her arms crossed in front of her chest. The paper ball hit her, and he burst out laughing,

"Nice block, Case," he said, then realized that her being here interfered with the plans he was soon to form.

"Why aren't you with mom and George?" Casey asked.

Derek opened the refrigerator and examined the contents, "Dad said they were just taking the kids."

"Exactly," Casey replied.

Derek sneered and took a swig from the milk jug, making sure Casey noted that he put the cap back on _and_ put it back for others to enjoy. It was those kinds of things that Derek loved to do to Casey. They were so simple, so gross…so him. And yet, so not her.

"Listen, I'm going to need the house to myself today," Derek said.

"Excuse me?" Casey replied, "I don't think so. This is my house, too, Derek."

"And your point?" he asked, starting for the living room.

Casey reached out to stop him, her hand connecting with his bare chest. It was then that she noticed that he was shirtless. He looked down, saw her palm on his skin, and then looked back up at her. But, she was already withdrawing, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.

"My point is, Derek, that you can't kick me out of my own house," she replied.

He shrugged, "So, just stay in your room. And turn your stereo up really loud."

"What? Why?" she asked, following him through the living room and up the stairs.

He paused just as he was about to step up, and turned to look down at her. He smiled, rubbing his hands together. It annoyed her how he always thought he was so cute. All he ever did was annoy the hell out of her. And that thing he did with his hands, as if he held the secrets of the world (or worse, knew something she _didn't_ know). She would have twitched, but she was too controlled for that.

"Let's just say that I'm inviting Hannah Stephens over," he said, pausing for some kind of effect, "And you're going to want your stereo up after she gets here."

"Derek, that's disgusting," she said, following him up the stairs after he turned from her.

"It's called being a teenager, Casey," he replied, reaching his bedroom and gripping the door knob, "You should try it sometime."

He opened the door, went inside, and shut it, effectively locking it behind him. Casey, on the other side of the door, sighed. Then, she pounded her fist on the door and yelled,

"I wish my mother hadn't married your father!"

The only reply she got was the sound of rock music growing progressively louder. He wasn't going to compromise. But, then again, when had he ever? Casey sighed and went to her own bedroom, shutting the door behind her to hopefully shut out Derek's loud, annoying music. When she had awoke that morning and found the note, excitement had filled her.

It was an entire Saturday morning without her mother or the kids. No loud conversations about cartoons over a messy breakfast. No coloring books lying about to slip on. It would be complete bliss. And that was when she thought of him.

_Derek. _All of the excitement and anticipation of a peaceful day vanished. She would be here with Derek all day. There was no reason why she should let him ruin it, though. She was determined to stand her ground. He wasn't going to command her to stay in her room all day and then expect her to obey. If she had to, she would put her hand up and stop him.

She thought about the moments earlier when she had placed her hand on his chest in the kitchen. It had felt smooth and sturdy.

_Wait,_ Casey thought, _I mean it had felt gross. Just like I expected Derek's chest to feel. Not that I've thought about touching Derek's chest._

She shook her head, realizing how silly she was being arguing with herself. She resented Derek and she always would. Regaining confidence through her earlier pep talk and through her more recent embarrassing thoughts, she opened her door and strode to Derek's door. She noticed he had turned his music down. She beat on the door. He opened it.

"You are not going to give me rules," she said, "You can't ban me from parts of my own house."

"Why do you have to be so difficult?" he asked, leaning against the doorframe.

"Why do _you_ have to be so difficult?" she replied, noting that he was fully dressed now.

Derek shook his head, as if he were talking to a child, then grasped her shoulders, shaking her slightly.

"Casey, Casey, Casey," he said, clicking his tongue, "When are you going to realize that people with actual lives automatically have rule over those who don't?"

She snorted, pushing his hands off her shoulders and then for added emphasis, brushed the spot where they had been. She started back for her room, calling back,

"You are not going to get your way again, Derek,"

"We'll see about that," he replied.

They simultaneously shut their doors. It was on.


	2. Plans

_Part Two: Plans_

Casey lay on her bed, flipping absentmindedly through a magazine. Normally, she would be making a list of everything in it that she liked so she could reference it later without having to go through the numerous pages again. But, today she was actually having trouble concentrating. Perhaps it was the loud music that kept pouring in and out of Derek's room every time he opened and closed the door. Perhaps it was something more.

Why did she always get stuck in these kinds of situations? Granted, it was nice not having the children around, though she truly loved them all; Marti, Edwin, and Lizzie. However, given the choice between having them around this afternoon and having them gone, Casey had to admit that she would definitely choose the latter. But, then there was the problem with Derek.

He was so annoying. Maybe it was the way he always got what he wanted, and never what he deserved. Maybe it was how Casey continued to promise herself that she wouldn't help him out, and then somehow wound up giving in. Sometimes she hated herself for that. But afterward, in that awkward moment when he was, in his own "Derek" way, thanking her for it, it made her feel something. And every time the feeling came around, she was never sure exactly what it was.

And now Hannah Stevens, one of the most popular and beautiful girls in school was coming to her house. It was supposed to be her Saturday alone, not one filled with Derek and Hannah making out in his bedroom or on the sofa. The thought made her stomach turn and her heart flutter. She brushed the thought aside.

That's when she got the idea. It was brilliant. It was all she could do to keep from squealing too loud as she formulated it. She kept quiet, quickly grabbing the phone and punching in the numbers. After a quick conversation, she placed the phone back on the cradle and mentally gave herself a high five. She had to bite her lip to keep from smiling too much.

The door swinging open interrupted her silent celebration, and Derek came in.

"Okay," he said, rubbing his hands together for added emphasis, "Here's the plan: Hannah is on her way over, so I've brought you some things to keep you busy."

It was at that moment that he turned and bent to pick up a box from behind him in the hallway and then walked into her room and let it fall onto the bed. He reached in and pulled out a small lunch cooler.

"Some dinner. A few sodas and sandwiches," he said, placing the cooler beside the box.

"Wait a minute. You took the time to make sandwiches for me just because you want to suck face with Hannah Stevens?" Casey asked in a sing-song voice, "You must really be looking forward to being with her."

"You have no idea, Case," he replied, noting how strange it was that Casey wasn't getting ready to attack him at that moment, but he continued, "And I'm going to let you borrow some of my CDs. But remember, this is just because I'm having a guest over. Nothing more."

Casey picked up the pack of CDs and looked through them, sliding one out, "Wow, Derek. I've been wanting to borrow this CD forever. Thanks!"

He regarded her strangely, but continued, "Some snacks, magazines, books, and…a few cups."

He dropped them all on the bed and picked up the empty box. Casey looked at the stack of plastic cups strangely, picking them up.

"What are the cups for?" she asked.

"In case you have to pee," he replied, "I don't want you going to the bathroom while things are getting hot and heavy with me and Hannah. In fact, I don't even want her to know you're here at all."

"I understand, Derek," she replied, tossing the cups back onto her bed.

"You do?" he asked.

"Completely. I mean, you and Hannah are so cool and I'm just not. It would be so embarrassing if you two were making out and then I interrupted and she found out I was here," Casey said, sounding sympathetic, "It's understandable."

Derek gave her the once over, "What's going on? Why are you giving in so easily?"

"Can't I do my stepbrother a favor every once in a while? Why do you have to automatically assume that I have an ulterior motive?" Casey asked, striding towards him and crossing her arms.

"Because you're Casey," he said, "And Casey doesn't do anything nice to me without an ulterior motive."

At that moment the doorbell rang. Derek looked at Casey and grinned, tossing her the empty cardboard box. She barely caught it in time, but refrained from scolding him as she normally would have. She let it slide. She set the box on the chair next to her desk.

"Remember, no coming out of your room," Derek said, pointing a finger, "I'll let you know when she's gone, okay? But until then-"

"I know, I know," Casey said, laying a hand on his arm, "You don't have to tell me again."

He glanced down at her fingertips on his arm. They felt smooth and round. For a moment, his skin felt slightly warm. He shook his head.

"Bye, Casey," he said, turning and shutting the door to her room.

Casey waited to come out of her room until she heard his loud footsteps _thunk thunking_ down the stairs. She quietly opened the door and then quickly rushed to the stairs and peered down at the front door. Derek was straightening his shirt, smelling under his arms, and then running his fingers through his hair. It made his hair looking naturally messy and cute.

_Wait a minute,_ Casey thought, _I did not just think that._

She shook her head and bit her lip as Derek opened the door. She was ecstatic to see the look on her stepbrother's face when he saw who was on the other side.

It was Sam.

"Hey Sam," Derek said, peering past his friend to make sure Hannah hadn't arrived yet, "I can't hang out today."

"Actually, I'm here to see Casey," Sam said, "She just called and asked if I wanted to come by and hang out for the day. Is she here?"

"No, she's not," Derek lied.

Casey took that moment to stroll down the stairs, "Hey Sam! I'm glad you could come."

Derek glared back at her as Sam stepped inside. Casey gave him a triumphant smile as she brushed past him and stood beside Sam.

"My parents are out for the day and they took the kids," Casey told Sam, "We practically have the whole house to ourselves."

"Except that I'm having Hannah Stevens over and she'll be here any minute," Derek said, "So you can't be down here."

"_We_ can be down here if we want," Casey corrected him, "You and Hannah can go upstairs."

"You know that the TV is better down here," he whined, "And that it gets better channels."

"I didn't think that would be a problem, since all you planned to do with Hannah was suck her face," Casey said.

At that moment, there was a knock on the open front door. All three of them turned, agitated, to see who it was. It was Hannah. She was wearing a short skirt and an even shorter shirt. Her hair was blond and straight, hanging perfectly down to the middle of her back. Her skin was bronze, like a goddess, and she flashed them all a perfectly white smile.

"Hey Derek," she said.

"Hannah!" Derek said, "I'm glad you're here. What do you say we go upstairs?"

He started to guide her upstairs, but she paused, "I thought we were going to have the house to ourselves."

"I thought we were, too, but I forgot about my stepsister," Derek replied, "That happens a lot. So, we're just going to go upstairs instead."

"But I wanted to watch that movie that was coming on HBO," Hannah replied, flipping her hair over her shoulder and batting her eyelashes.

Casey nearly gagged. It took all of her strength just to keep from completely vomiting right in front of everybody. Girls like that always got what they wanted. Even from guys like Derek. Casey could never flip her hair and bat her eyelashes in order to get Derek to do something. The thought gave her an empty feeling inside.

"The only TV that gets that channel is the one down here, and Casey and Sam are down here," Derek replied, "But we could go upstairs until they're done."

He started to guide her back upstairs, but she paused again, "We could just all watch the movie down here. It could be fun. Besides, I've been wanting to see it for a long time."

"Yeah, Derek," Casey smiled, "We could all watch it together. What do you say?"

Derek glared at her. He was going to pay her back for this. He wasn't sure how and he wasn't sure when, but he was going to get even. She just widened her smile. He turned to Hannah and smiled.

"Sure, sounds great," he replied, "Who wants popcorn?"


	3. You Are So

_Part Three: You Are So_

Casey was right. The movie that Miss My-Body-Couldn't-Be-Any-More-Perfect wanted to watch was completely terrible. It was some cliché movie about a super jock who falls in love with a nerdy girl, and they live happily ever after. Hannah Stevens didn't need to be in a stupid movie to win the affections of a heartthrob. Casey _was_ the nerdy girl and she still didn't get the guy. How unfair.

Sam sat in the recliner, while Casey, Derek, and Hannah sat perched on the sofa. Casey noticed smugly when Derek rolled his eyes as she sat beside him. He was in the middle. Casey also noticed that Derek was turning on the charm with Hannah. He would yawn and stretch, childishly putting his arm around her as if everybody didn't notice how stupid he looked. Casey looked around the room. Maybe she _was_ the only the only person who noticed.

She realized that Derek was trying extra hard to get Hannah's attention. He had never tried this hard to impress a girl. Every once in a while, Hannah would flip her hair, revealing her bare shoulder. Casey thought she was going to have to get a bucket to catch all of the drool coming from Derek's mouth.

About halfway through the movie, when Derek was gently stroking Hannah's bare arm, Casey leaned over,

"Don't you just love this part?" she whispered into his ear.

What Derek should have noticed was the fact that the hottest girl in school was sitting next to him, and that after the movie they would be headed up to his room. What he shouldn't have noticed was that Casey's breath on his skin made the hair on the back of his neck stand up straight. Or that it made him shiver slightly. Or that it made him feel a certain sensation that he had made numerous girls feel before, but that nobody had ever made him feel before.

"Bug off, Casey," he replied, through gritted teeth and shaking off the feeling, while trying to swat her away.

"You know, Derek, I just don't understand how you can be enjoying the movie when all you've been trying to do is look down Hannah's shirt," she replied.

Derek glanced over at Hannah, but she seemed oblivious to Casey's antics. She was too engrossed in the movie to realize anything. She hadn't even noticed all of the moves he'd been trying to put on her. Normally, any girl would be crumbling under the pressure of his good looks and smooth moves. But Hannah was just intent on seeing what happened between that dumb quarterback and the nerdy Casey look-a-like.

Every time he tried to make a move on Hannah, Casey leaned in and said something stupid. He resisted the urge to push her off the sofa and kick her out of the house. If there wasn't anybody around, he probably would have done it. Instead, he concentrated his efforts on Hannah—beautiful, sexy, not-his-stepsister Hannah. He began drawing little circles in the palm of her hand.

"Look at that beach, Derek!" Casey exclaimed, placing a hand on his arm, "Do you remember when we went on that family vacation to the beach? How fun was that?"

"Can I talk to you a minute, Casey?" Derek asked, standing up, "In the kitchen?"

"Sure, Derek," Casey replied sweetly, standing with him.

Derek grabbed her wrist gently and led her into the kitchen. Sam and Hannah didn't seem to notice that the two had left. Sam sat munching loudly on his bowl of popcorn and Hannah was now leaning slightly forward, her eyes focused intently on the television.

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" Derek asked in a loud whisper.

"Where would I have to be?" Casey replied.

"Wherever nerds go on Saturdays," Derek replied.

Casey began to reply, but she noticed at that moment that Derek was still holding her wrist. The words she began to say came out as a mumble. Derek looked down and saw that he was still touching her and he quickly withdrew his hand. He rubbed the back of his neck.

"Listen, just take Sam and go," Derek said.

Casey crossed her arms and leaned back against the edge of the counter, "Why? It wouldn't make a difference. Heather in there is too interested in the movie to even notice you."

"Her name is Hannah," Derek replied, taking a step forward, "And believe me, if you weren't here, we'd already be halfway there."

"Halfway where? To you getting absolutely nothing?" Casey asked.

Derek leaned forward slightly, "To, um…"

Casey raised her eyebrows, waiting for an answer.

"Halfway to um…" Derek began, then finished coyly, "You know where."

"Big macho guy can't even speak aloud the actions he wishes to perform," Casey said smugly.

"Derek!" Hannah called from the living room, "You're missing the best part!"

"I'll be right there!" he called back.

"I'll be right there," Casey mocked.

Derek leaned in a little more, "You are so…so…"

Casey would have said something smart or witty at that moment, but she noticed then that Derek was close. It was the closest he had ever been unless they were fighting. When they were fighting, they could be rolling around on the floor, bodies clutched together, and Casey wouldn't have noticed. For some reason, she noticed this. What was happening?

She felt his leg awkwardly bump against hers. Casey waited for him to move, to say something Derek-like, and then end the conversation and return to Hannah. But he didn't. He moved and placed his knee between her legs. She breathed in sharply.

She would have been scared, afraid he was going to attack, but there was a look in his eyes. It was a look she had never seen before. Uncrossing her arms, she gripped the counter on either side of her. Her knees suddenly couldn't support her weight. Derek drew in his breath, as if he was going to say something else, but he didn't. He just put his hands on the counter beside her, one on either side of her body.

_What is he doing?_ Casey thought, as she felt his hands next to hers.

She felt Derek's breath on her face, but by now she had closed her eyes and wasn't sure what was going on. It was then that she felt him lean in just slightly closer. She felt his breath on her ear now, felt how close he was when his cheek brushed against hers.

"You are so…" he began again, but like before, couldn't fish out a complete thought of any kind.

"I'm so what, Derek?" Casey asked, her voice low and her breath coming in short puffs.

She had said his name a thousand times, but he liked the way she said it now. It sounded different. He couldn't quite place the emotion in her voice. Was it anger or desperation?

_What am I doing? _Derek thought suddenly, _I must be completely out of my mind_.

He pulled back quickly, pushing himself off of the counter. He shook his head, wondering what had gotten into him. It took a moment for Casey to open her eyes. But when she did, Derek was already walking away. Her heart was racing, and as he disappeared out of sight, she finally let out the breath she had been holding in.

What had just happened?


	4. Just Thoughts

_Part Four: Just Thoughts_

The rest of the movie was a blur. After Casey followed Derek back out into the living, she wasn't able to focus. Before, she had been snuggled close to Derek, whispering into his ear at the most inconvenient moments. Now, she was scooted as far against the arm of the sofa as she could get. She noticed the Derek stopped trying to put the moves on Hannah and just sat there with his arms crossed.

Just as the quarterback was scooping the geeky girly into his arms, with the beautiful sunset in the background and the latest love ballad playing, Hannah Stevens clapped her hands excitedly.

"That was _so_ good," she gushed, "Oh, Derek, do you think that could be us one day?"

Derek didn't respond. He just sat, his eyes transfixed on the television screen where the credits were rolling.

"Derek?" Hannah asked again, nudging his arm.

"Huh?" he asked, falling out of his stupor.

"I said, do you think that could be us one day?" she asked, completely upset and devastated that he wasn't paying any attention to her.

"Um, sure," he replied.

"Do you want to go upstairs now?" Hannah asked, tapping her fingers lightly on Derek's chest.

He should have been excited. His goal was soon to be obtained. It was right there, so close, smiling up at him with perfect blue eyes. But the anticipation he had felt earlier was gone.

_Come on,_ he thought, _You're Derek Venturi, and Derek Venturi doesn't quit._

He didn't say anything, just grabbed her hand and led her upstairs. They passed Casey, but he didn't even look at her. For a moment, he wished he could have stolen a glance in her direction, to see if she was looking at him. Would she look upset? Perhaps slightly disheveled? He sighed inwardly. What did he care?

Casey watched the two head upstairs. Her plan wasn't working out too well. Sure, Hannah's persistent insistence on watching the movie had definitely been a big help. But now, whether or not Casey and Sam were here, Derek was getting what he wanted. He always got what he wanted.

"I have to get home," Sam said, standing up and starting for the door.

Casey stood up suddenly, and followed him to the door. He couldn't leave now, not when Derek and Hannah had just gone upstairs. She would have to sit down here and listen to them. And no amount of therapy would ever be able to reverse the psychological damage from that.

"I promised my mom I would help her clean," Sam shrugged, "My Aunt Milly is coming tomorrow."

"I could come help clean," Casey suggested, "I'm excellent with a scrub brush."

Sam paused for a moment before shrugging again, "Sure. Why not?"

Casey smiled, "Let me just go grab my things."

She started upstairs quickly, excited with the new situation. Her feet pounded loudly on each step, but as she neared Derek's door, she slowed. It was quiet in there. She resisted the urge to go press her ear against the door. It was none of her business anyway. And why did she care so much about Derek and Hannah?

_Because Derek tried to kick you out of your own house for her,_ Casey reminded herself.

She continued to her room where she grabbed her keys and a few other things off of her bed and desk before tip-toeing past Derek's door again and silently going down the steps. Sam was there waiting for her, and she smiled brightly.

"All ready!" she chirped, giving one last glance up the stairs before shutting the door behind her.

* * *

His lips were moving smoothly against hers. He was doing all of the right things. Right before she had sat down on his bed, he had turned to his dresser and sprayed some breath freshener into his mouth. He had been coy at first, as if he wasn't used to doing these kinds of things with girls like her. Yup, he had to admit, he was getting good at this.

But then why did everything feel so strange? When she had pulled him down onto the bed, he had almost been reluctant to go. His thoughts had lost him for a second as he laid her back onto the bed. But then, as she placed her hand on his chest, he thought about Casey and how it had felt to have her palm against his bare chest that morning.

Then he thought about what had happened earlier in the kitchen. As Hannah ran her fingers through his hair, Derek couldn't help but wonder what he had been thinking when he pinned Casey against the counter and whispered in her ear.

_You were just trying to psych her out,_ Derek told himself, as he captured Hannah's lips with his own, _Nothing more._

And even though Hannah Stevens was doing her best to get him to concentrate on her, or more precisely her roaming hands, Derek's thoughts kept drifting back to Casey. When he had her against the counter, all he would have had to do was tilt his head the other way, and his lips would have connected with hers.

_But you don't want your lips to connect with hers. That would be disgusting._

Derek shook his head slightly and tried to concentrate on Hannah. She was so beautiful and sexy and…beautiful. Well, when they got to know each other better, he would probably find some other great qualities. But then he wondered if he would ever get to know her better. Guys like him didn't get to know any girl better. Except for Casey.

He could tell you what she liked for breakfast, what her favorite movie was, and exactly what time she liked to go the bed every night. He knew more about Casey than he did any other girl. Granted, she _was_ his stepsister. But even that wouldn't have deterred his complete oblivion to knowing more about her. If his stepsister had been any other girl besides Casey.

Hannah's hands were expertly roaming his body. He could feel her tongue raking across his lips, suggesting she wanted more. But, for some strange reason, Derek couldn't part his lips.

"Derek…" she giggled.

Derek resisted the urge to roll his eyes. She sounded so…so…insincere. Funny, how he could describe exactly what he thought of Hannah, but couldn't do the same about Casey. He thought about her again, wondered what she was doing downstairs. Had Sam left or not? What were they doing?

_What do I care what they're doing? It's none of my business._

But Derek couldn't help but imagine Sam and Casey doing the exact thing him and Hannah were doing at that moment. Maybe Sam had her on the sofa, running his fingers through her hair and whispering her name. Maybe Casey was giggling like Hannah was, and instead of turning Sam off like it was doing to Derek, it was turning him on. Derek shuddered at the thought.

Hannah's tongue tried to gain entrance once more, "Derek…" she giggled again, when he once again refused.

"We can't do this, Casey," Derek said, pulling his face out of the aim of her lips.

"Excuse me?" she demanded.

Derek sat up fully and repeated, "We can't do this. I'm sorry."

"No, not that," Hannah said, pursing her lips, "You just called me Casey."

Derek's heart nearly stopped. Could she hear what he had been thinking? Had he actually been saying his thoughts aloud instead of silently contemplating them? His heart resumed its normal rhythm. There was no way he called her Casey. That was impossible.

"No, I didn't," Derek smirked.

"Yes, you did," Hannah replied, standing and grabbing her purse off of his desk.

"Wait. Where are you going?" Derek asked.

"Home," she replied simply, turning and opening his bedroom door.

Derek jumped up and quickly scooted in front of her before she could step out into the hallway. He placed a hand on the door frame and leaned against it as casually as he could.

"Come on, I didn't call you Casey," he laughed, "And besides, if I did, it was only because I was thinking about how annoying she is."

"So, let me get this straight," Hannah said, putting a hand on her hip, "You were thinking about Casey being annoying _while_ you were making out with me."

"It's not how it sounds," Derek pleaded.

"Derek, you were thinking about your sister just as I was about to take my shirt off," Hannah whined, hoping that the mention of the loss of clothing would make him further regret his fumble.

"Wait a minute," Derek said, holding up his finger and shaking his head in disbelief, "Casey is not my sister. She's my stepsister. Big difference."

Hannah groaned and turned on her heels. She trotted down the steps and Derek followed slowly behind her. When he heard the door shut, he finally peered into the living room. But Sam wasn't there. And neither was Casey.

* * *

Casey was sure she couldn't scrub another toilet. She was beginning to regret her decision to tell Sam she was excellent with a scrub brush. When they had arrived, his mother had immediately sent them to work. Sam indulged the information about Casey's special talent, and here she was, cleaning every toilet, sink, and bathtub in the house. She heard the whir of the vacuum cleaner downstairs. It had been constantly humming the moment she'd begun cleaning. It was becoming hypnotizing.

Sam appeared in the doorway of the bathroom and smiled down at her,

"Sorry to interrupt all of the fun you're having, but I think we're done."

"Oh really? But I was enjoying this so much," Casey replied, but smiled in jest.

She stripped off the rubber gloves she had been wearing and tossed them onto the counter next to the bathroom sink. Sam helped her up, and she brushed some hair out of her face.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about today. I didn't expect there to be so much cleaning," he said, stuffing his hands in his back pocket.

"No sweat," Casey said, "I enjoy cleaning."

"No, you don't," Sam smiled.

"Okay, maybe I don't exactly _enjoy_ it, but when it's all done at least you can pride yourself on a job well done," Casey replied, gesturing to the clean toilet.

"Until tomorrow morning, when I miss again," he said.

Casey laughed, "Yeah, Derek does the same thing. It drives me crazy."

There was an awkward silence between them. Casey shifted her weight from one foot to the other, and Sam cleared his throat.

"It's getting late," he said, looking at his watch for added emphasis.

"Yeah, I need to get home before my parents do," Casey said, "But, thanks for coming over earlier."

"Thanks for helping us clean," Sam replied.

He walked Casey to the door, then he watched her start down the driveway. He gave her a small wave good-bye before closing the door.


	5. Truce

_Part Five: Truce_

Derek sat on the sofa, his leg bouncing up and down as he flipped through the channels. Ever since Hannah had left, and he'd discovered that he had the house all to himself, he had done…absolutely nothing.

That's right. Derek Venturi had the entire house to himself on a Saturday night and he was doing absolutely nothing. Well, that wasn't true. Hannah Stevens had been over earlier. That was something. But it had ended up as nothing.

All he had been doing was sitting on the couch, his arm propping up his head, incessantly clicking through the channels. News, game show, infomercial. Over and over. It was so quiet, kind of like it had been that morning. But now, he didn't have that hopeful anticipation of a day full of opportunities lying ahead.

The door swung open, and Casey walked in. She looked tired and slightly awry. Derek tossed the remote aside and stood up.

"Where have you been?" he demanded.

"Out," she replied, starting for the stairs.

Derek scooted to the stairway first and blocked it. Casey sighed, exasperated. He just crossed his arms.

"I was at Sam's house, okay?" she said, "Why do you care?"

"Because…" Derek started, "Because Dad and Nora are going to be home with the kids any minute now and they would have freaked if you weren't here."

Casey shrugged, "Well, I'm here now. No big deal."

She started to one side of him, but he scooted again to block her path. She tried to go to the other side, but he moved again. Finally, glaring up at him, she said,

"What are you doing, Derek?"

"What did you do at Sam's?" Derek asked casually.

Casey laughed, "What do you care?"

"Can't I just be curious?" he asked.

She finally pushed past him and started up the stairs, but he was right there behind her, following her. Casey could hear his footsteps close on her heels, and she went straight to her room. Walking inside, she tried to swing the door closed behind her, but he caught it before it shut. He leaned against the doorframe.

"Please don't tell me that you, my stepsister, and Sam, my best friend…" Derek began, "_Did it._"

Casey grabbed a shirt out of her closet and turned to face him, "And what if we did? You and Hannah were here doing the exact same thing."

"So you did?" Derek asked, his voice quieter.

Casey sat down on the edge of her bed and played with the shirt in her hands. She sighed.

"No, we didn't," Casey replied, "We actually spent the entire time cleaning."

Derek laughed, "You spent the entire day cleaning somebody else's house? I find that hard to believe."

He moved and sat down beside her on the bed. He was slightly surprised when she didn't complain about him being in her room, much less sitting on her bed.

"Why? Just because I'm not nice to you doesn't mean I can't be nice to other people," Casey said, then continued more quietly, "What did you and Hannah do?"

He could have lied, could have come up with a million cool things to say. Besides, she was his stepsister and he was the coolest guy in school. If word got around that he had screwed up with Hannah Stevens, his social life would be over. By now, Hannah had probably told everybody on her speed dial about what he had done. Calling her Casey was definitely not the best decision he'd ever made.

"She had to leave," he replied, "Some family thing or something."

"Now, I find _that_ hard to believe. Derek Venturi gets whatever he wants. You're telling me you let her waltz out of here just like that?" Casey asked, snapping her fingers for added emphasis.

"Hey, it's no big deal," he warned, "We weren't really hitting it off anyway."

"You could say that again," Casey mumbled.

"What?" Derek asked.

Casey gave her best smile and sweetly said, "Oh, nothing. I'm going to take a shower before everybody gets back and wants to use the bathroom."

As she stood up, he grabbed her arm and pulled her back onto the bed.

"What did you say?" he smirked.

"Nothing!" she laughed, then made a gesture as if she were zipping her lips, "My lips are sealed."

"Oh, I don't think so," Derek said, holding up his index finger menacingly.

Casey's eyes widened, "Don't you dare. Derek, I mean it."

"Then tell me what you said," he said, wiggling his finger.

She dropped the shirt she was holding and leapt up and over to the other side of the bed. He stood with her and glared at her from across the sheets.

"If you tickle me, Derek Venturi, I swear I'll…I'll…" Casey began.

"You'll what? Clean my house?" Derek replied, "I'm terrified. Please don't."

She glared at him, "I'll tell everybody who doesn't already know about you chickening out with Hannah Stevens."

Now his eyes widened, "You wouldn't dare," then he smoothly added, "Besides, I didn't chicken out. She had to go. I told you that."

"Maybe that's what you told me. But it's not going to be what I tell everybody else," Casey said.

"Fine," Derek said, seemingly defeated, "Truce."

She raised an eyebrow, "Seriously?"

He nodded, "Seriously."

He leaned over the bed and stuck out his hand. She regarded it carefully, and then figured that he wanted his secret kept more than she didn't want to be tickled. If Hannah hadn't already told everybody about what had happened, and Casey did, then Derek's life would be over. It was an enticing thought. But, she sighed and reached over to grasp Derek's hand.

Instead of shaking it, he gripped her hand tighter and pulled her onto the bed. She struggled against him as he tried his best to hold her down.

"Derek!" she screamed, but it only made him more intent.

They struggled for another second, until finally he was straddling her and was able to pin her down. They were both breathing hard, and he watched her chest rise and fall. He held both of her arms above her head, her hair falling in front of her face. She was trying to blow it out of her eyes. Without thinking, he let go of her wrist and reached down to brush the stray hair aside. Casey could have taken the opportunity to fight back, but she could hardly breathe, let alone move.

"Derek," she said again, softer.

He let his fingertips linger on her face. He couldn't break her gaze. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't look away. Casey swallowed hard, her heart racing.

_Is it possible for my heart to beat this fast and not explode?_ she thought.

She squirmed slightly underneath his gaze, lifting and twisting her hips. Derek groaned in response. Casey was unaware of what she was doing, he could tell. She had never been in this situation before. Not with any guy, and especially not with him.

But surely, this wasn't happening. It was some strange dream that he would awaken from at any moment. It should be Hannah he was with right now. Not Casey. She gently moved again, her back arching ever so slightly and her hips lifting higher.

"Casey…" he pleaded.

She heard the desperation in his voice. But she didn't know where it was coming from. His eyes held a hungry look. They were intent and unwavering. But he wasn't looking into her eyes anymore. He was staring at her lips. Unconsciously, her tongue darted out and licked them. His gaze didn't leave her mouth. Nervously, she bit her bottom lip.

_Why is he staring at me like this?_ Casey thought.

In one swift movement, Derek bent and pressed his lips to hers. He noticed how warm and smooth her mouth felt against his. He also noticed how rigid her lips felt, as if she was unwilling to kiss him back. But it was at that moment that the sound of the front door swinging open and the entrance of loud children and scolding parents interrupted their thoughts.

"Smerek!" Marti called out from downstairs, "I saw four monkeys!"

"Derek! Casey! Where are you?" Nora called out also.

Derek hesitated a moment before rolling off the bed and straightening his shirt. He didn't even glance back at her. He couldn't. Running a hand through his hair, he simply left the room.

Casey lay there for a second, bewildered. She gently touched her lips and wondered why they tingled so badly.

"Casey? Are you alright?" her mother appeared in the doorway.

She sat up quickly, "Of course. How was the circus? And the zoo?"

"Next time George and I have the brilliant idea of taking the kids somewhere that involves live animals, remind us that we're completely insane," her mother replied.

Lizzie appeared at the door, "They didn't even have the sea otters out."

"Well, you'll just have to wait until the next time mom and George take everyone to the zoo," Casey said, winking at her mother.

"I think it's time for everybody to go to bed!" George called from downstairs.

Lizzie rushed off to get ready for bed while Nora walked to sit beside Casey on her bed. She put her arm around her daughter and pulled her close.

"I'm so glad we came back to find the house intact," she said, "We're so proud of you and Derek. Maybe we'll be able to do this more often."

"Or maybe next time I could go," Casey suggested as casually as she could, "I mean, I do love the zoo."

Nora regarded her daughter strangely, "Perhaps. You get some sleep. You look tired."

Casey managed a smile as her mother kissed the top of her head and walked out of her room, shutting the door behind her. Funny how that morning, all Casey had thought about was how wonderful the day was going to be with everybody away. The first experience had ended with her and Derek locked in a bathroom while a disastrous party was going on downstairs. And now there was this, whatever it was. She wasn't so sure she wanted to be left home alone with Derek anymore.


	6. Sleepless Nights

_Part Six: Sleepless Nights_

Sunday came and went and Casey managed to avoid Derek completely. It was pretty easy, considering. He usually didn't awake until the afternoon, and by the time he did, she was already at Emily's. She spent the entire day there, and by the time she returned after dinner, Derek had already locked himself in his room for the night. She barely glanced at his bedroom door as she shut her own.

She hadn't told Emily about anything. How could she? Emily adored Derek; she thought he was the greatest guy in the world. She also thought that Casey hated Derek. And that was true.

_Wait. There is no past tense,_ Casey thought, _I still hate Derek. And I always will._

But as she lay in bed on Monday night, after successfully avoiding Derek for another day, she couldn't help but wonder what exactly it was that she was feeling towards Derek. She wondered about it for hours, flipping from one side to the other, and trying to think of other things to occupy her mind so she wouldn't have to feel so confused.

But there were only so many times a person could mentally list all fifty states in alphabetical order without going completely insane. And Casey was sure if she tried to do it one more time, the mental hospital would already have a room set up for her. Besides, it was completely useless.

After she muttered the word _Wyoming_, all of the thoughts of her and Derek came back into her mind. Sometimes she shuddered when she thought that they had been lying on the exact bed she was in right now. Sometimes she snuggled further under the sheets. She even tried to sniff the top sheet to see if it smelled like him. But it didn't.

Casey glanced towards her bedroom door. It was probably the millionth time she had done it since she turned off her light to go to sleep. She wasn't sure what she expected. Certainly, she didn't want him to come into her room now. It would be too awkward. But then again, it was going to be awkward no matter when she had to actually see him and talk to him next.

It was getting late, and if she didn't get some rest soon, Casey was sure she wouldn't be able to sleep at all. Only a few more hours before she had to get up for school. And against her better judgment, she threw back the covers and silently went to her door. Slowly, she pulled it open, making sure that it didn't make any noise. The house was dark and eerily quiet.

She quickly padded to Derek's bedroom door. Standing in the hallway, she shifted her weight from one foot to the other, as if she were cold. But she was only anxious. Taking in a deep breath, she pressed her ear to the door. It was silent in his room. She strained to hear more, ceasing to breathe in order to figure out whether or not this was affecting him as deeply as it was affecting her.

But she heard nothing. Unlike her, he wasn't letting out any frustrated groans or quietly talking to himself about the situation. He wasn't trying to list off states or count to one hundred. She would have liked to say that she heard him contemplating the whole ordeal, and that she had discovered he was feeling the exact same way she was feeling. But she couldn't say that.

So, she tip-toed back to her room and quickly dove back under the covers, pulling them tightly around her.

* * *

Derek was having trouble sleeping. If he wasn't thinking about Casey, then he was thinking about what he had done. How could he have been so stupid? And where had it come from? They had been fighting the moment since they moved in together. They had been fighting the moment their parents left them alone for the day. They had been fighting just moments before he had bent to kiss her.

_What the hell was I thinking?_ Derek thought.

But that was just the thing. For once in his life, he hadn't planned some grand scheme to get a girl to like him. Sure, with every other girl he had previously thought out all of the moves he was going to make. A kiss here, a playful squeeze there. But with Casey, it had just happened. And now he hadn't seen or talked to her in two days and they lived in the same house.

That wasn't true. He had seen her at school, in the hallway earlier that day. She hadn't noticed him, but he noticed her. He was walking to his next class with a group of friends when he spotted her walking with Emily. She wore her hair the same way she wore it every day, but today he noticed it better. It looked nice. She had been laughing at something that Emily had just said, but her eyes looked distracted. For a moment, he just watched her as his friends joked about some show they had watched on television the previous night. But, Casey had turned the corner and disappeared.

Derek wondered if she had told Emily about it, but he decided that she probably hadn't. Casey wasn't one to talk about things. At least not about things that really mattered. But, who was he to say? He was her hated stepbrother. She would never tell him anything. Silently, he rolled over to his other side, fluffing his pillow over and over again to try to get comfortable. But he couldn't get comfortable no matter how hard he tried.

_She probably hasn't even thought about it,_ he thought, _And if she has, then she's probably thinking about how terrible it was._

And that was the worst part about it all, not knowing how she felt about it. He wouldn't get the courage to ask her. They had crossed that line. Never again could they look at each other and honestly say that nothing had happened. And it was all his fault. He wondered what she was doing at that moment.

He slowly untangled himself from his sheets and went to open his bedroom door. Slowly, he peered out. Just as his eyes adjusted to the dark, he saw the door to Casey's room swiftly and quietly shut. He smiled to himself.

_So, she can't sleep either._

Shutting his door, he climbed underneath the covers and finally found a comfortable spot. And it only took a few minutes until he finally drifted off.

* * *

"Kids! Time for dinner!" Nora yelled up the stairs Tuesday night.

Casey groaned inwardly. It had been another successful day of avoiding Derek. And she had successfully avoided seeing him at the dinner table the past two nights. Sunday, she ate dinner with Emily. Last night, he had dinner at Sam's house. She would have come up with some lame excuse about homework or feeling ill, but she just rolled off her bed and opened her bedroom door.

Derek was coming out of his room just as she was headed for the stairs. For a brief moment, their eyes connected. But, she quickly avoided his gaze when her heart started to beat faster, and she trotted down the stairs. Derek sighed and followed her.

By the time they got to the table, everyone was already seated. He sat at one end and she sat at the other. Everybody filled their plates.

"I don't like peas," Marti declared, crossing her arms.

"But Derek likes peas," Nora pointed out, dumping a spoonful of peas onto Derek's plate.

"You do?" Marti asked in awe.

Derek smiled and shoveled a spoonful of peas into his mouth, mashing them slowly between his teeth, "I love them."

Marti giggled and began eating her peas as well. Casey couldn't help but smile. Derek was such a great guy.

_Hold on. Derek is not a great guy,_ Casey reminded herself, _Don't let Saturday night get to you again. Be strong._

"So, how was school today?" George asked.

"It was awesome!" Edwin exclaimed, "We built towers in science class out of popsicle sticks and then put them in a machine to see how much weight they could hold. Mine was the strongest."

"Then why don't you help your father finish building that table out in the garage?" Nora asked, "He doesn't seem to know what he's doing."

George shot his wife a friendly glare before saying, "What about you Derek?"

Derek shrugged, "It was okay."

"What? You weren't ruling the school and fending off the girls?" George asked, exchanging a look with Nora, "Has Derek lost his mojo already?"

"I haven't lost my mojo," he assured his father, shifting uncomfortably, "It's just on hiatus right now. No worries."

Casey took the opportunity to glance over at Derek, who was avoiding looking at anybody. He just brought his fork to his mouth and chewed slowly. His love life was on hiatus? Casey wondered shyly if it had anything to do with what happened on Saturday night.

"What about you, Casey?" Nora asked, interrupting her thoughts, "Did you have a good day at school?"

"It was fine," she replied, "I made an A on that anatomy test I spent weeks studying for."

"Congratulations, sweetheart," her mother beamed, "That's really good."

The table fell silent for a moment. Casey wondered what Derek was thinking at that moment, but there was no way to be sure. She certainly wasn't going to look up at him again. And she certainly wasn't going to ask him. She took a bite of food and tried not to think about him the rest of the meal.

* * *

Derek was the first to go upstairs for the night. Nora and George found it strange that he had been going to his room so early for the past few nights. He even gave up possession of the remote control. They decided between themselves that he was just being a teenager.

Casey sat with Lizzie on the sofa and watched television. It was some cartoon about talking animals with magic powers. Casey found herself laughing at some parts, and it wasn't until after the show was over that she realized she had successfully gotten Derek off her mind for the last half hour. She picked up the remote and started flipping through the channels.

"Hey, Casey," George said, scooting her and Lizzie over before sitting beside them on the sofa.

"Yeah?" she asked, her finger rapidly clicking the channel button.

"Do you know if there's anything wrong with Derek?" he asked.

Casey maintained her composure. She shook her head, "Why would I know if there was anything wrong with Derek?"

"Well, I know you two don't exactly talk," he continued, "But you do go to the same school. Did something happen there?"

Casey shrugged, "Not that I know of. But I don't really see Derek much at school."

"Okay, okay," George said, standing up and realizing that his and Nora's children really did hate each other as much as he thought, "But you'll let me know?"

"Sure," she replied, not taking her eyes off of the television.

As soon as George was out of the room, Casey let out the breath she had been holding. Everybody was noticing that something was going on. Lizzie's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Let's watch this," her younger sister said, pointing to the screen.

Casey realized that even though she had been staring at the screen, she had no idea what she was looking at. She shook her head and refocused. It was another cartoon. She smiled.

"You start watching it," she said, standing up and handing Lizzie the remote, "And let me know what I've missed when I get back, okay?"

"Okay," Lizzie said, already engrossed in what was going on with the cartoon.

Casey started up the stairs, gripping the railing as she went. Her palms were sweaty just thinking about what she was going to do next. Loud music was coming from Derek's room. Taking a deep breath, she stood in front of his door and knocked. There was no reply. She knocked again and again, but he didn't open the door. She tried the knob. It was locked.

"Derek!" she yelled, "Open the door!"

Growing frustrated, she lifted her fist to pound on the door when he opened it. He wasn't wearing a shirt, and she snuck a glance at how sturdy his chest was and how lean his stomach had become. Growing nervous, she reorganized her thoughts.

"We need to talk!" she said, straining her voice over the blaring music.

"What?" he asked, cupping his ear as if to indicate that he couldn't hear her.

She rolled her eyes and pushed past him, striding to his stereo and effectively turning it off. She crossed her arms.

"We need to talk," she said more quietly, glancing at the open bedroom door.

Nora and George couldn't find out about what had happened. Casey was determined to just talk to Derek about it and get over it. That way, it wouldn't be so strange around the house. After her talk with George earlier, Casey was afraid that everybody was going to start noticing that her and Derek weren't even _fighting_ anymore. And that was a strange occurrence around the Venturi-McDonald house.

"About what?" he asked flippantly, flopping onto his bed.

She groaned, "You know what about," and then continued when he seemed completely clueless, "About what happened the other night."

He shrugged, "As far as I'm concerned, nothing happened."

She paused for a moment. He couldn't be serious. But, when he got up and turned his stereo back on, and noticeably turned it up a few notches, she got the hint. Without saying a word, she left his room and shut the door behind her.


	7. Car Ride

_Part Seven: Car Ride_

It happened Friday night. The second encounter. Ever since their talk on Tuesday night, Casey was sure that she and Derek were probably never going to talk again. Of course, if she had thought about it further, she would have realized that an eternal silence between them was ridiculous. Although, before last Saturday, she probably would have made the bet that it was possible. Now, she wasn't so sure.

She had just gotten out of the shower that night. With a towel wrapped around her, she smudged off some of the fog on the mirror and looked at herself. Her hair was an even darker shade of brown now that it was wet. Picking up her comb, she ran it through her hair, letting little droplets of water fling off the ends.

_You are so pathetic. Here you are on a Friday night doing absolutely nothing. Derek's off with his friends, probably hooking up with tons of girls._

It shouldn't have affected her. It shouldn't have made her insides twist up and burn. But it did. She scooted to her room and put on a pair of shorts and a tank top. Getting out a few textbooks from school, she started studying. Lizzie and Edwin were downstairs playing a game. She heard their giggles and playful teasing about how the other wasn't playing fair. Marti was already in bed, asleep. George and her mother were watching a movie on television. And Derek was out. It was all pretty normal.

She tried to concentrate on her math problems. She was excellent at math, but couldn't concentrate. She absently did a few problems, but when she checked the answers in the back of the book she found that she had done them all wrong. Getting frustrated, she slammed her book shut and groaned. That's when she heard the front door open and shut. She heard Derek's voice as he exchanged a few sentences with George and her mother. Then, his footsteps were loud and heavy on the stairs.

Reaching for her bedroom door, she intended to close it before he could get upstairs. But as she leaned in her chair, she saw him in the hallway. His eyes flickered up and caught her gaze. Instead of avoiding the situation, going to his room and closing the door, he strolled to her room. Casey straightened in her desk chair as he pushed the door open further.

He was wearing a plain t-shirt, with his leather jacket and some jeans. His hair was ruffled slightly, and he looked good. He stuffed his hands in his pockets.

"What's it like?" he asked.

"What's what like?" she replied.

"Being a nerd," he replied, walking and falling backwards onto her bed, "If I had no other choice but to sit inside all night on a Friday, I'd just go ahead and shoot myself to end the misery."

He was back to being Derek again. So, she went back to being Casey again. She swiveled in her chair to face him as he lay on her sheets, staring up at the ceiling.

"At least I'm going to be out of the house and on to college when I graduate," she replied, "You, on the other hand, probably won't even graduate. You'll be mooching off of George and mom the rest of your life. I'd like to see what kind of job you'll be able to get with all of that _great_ dating experience."

"You are such a smartass," he laughed.

"At least I'm not a dumbass," she smiled.

Derek sighed a moment, placing his hands on his stomach, "Hey, Case?"

She noticed that his shirt came up ever so slightly and she caught sight of his toned stomach again and the edge of his boxers poking out of the top of his jeans. She swallowed hard, but tried to concentrate.

"Yeah?" she replied.

"Do you really think I'm a dumbass?" he asked, his face stoic and serious.

She paused, "No, Derek. I was just kidding."

He sat up slightly, propping himself up with his elbows. She was disappointed that the view of his bare skin disappeared. She refocused her eyes to his face.

"Okay," he replied, just looking at her.

Casey grew uncomfortable under his gaze. His eyes were roaming her face, and every place they landed, she could feel her skin growing warm. He searched her eyes and her lips, then moved to her hair, following it from the roots down to the tips, where they landed on her body. She drew in a breath.

_He's consciously doing this to me_, she realized.

His eyes moved over her chest, down her stomach, and further. She swiftly crossed her legs and placed her hands in her lap. He noticed how fidgety she was, and smirked slightly.

"So, you don't think I'm a dumbass?" he asked again, as if what they were doing was normal.

"Yes. I mean, no. I don't know!" she began, then growing frustrated, threw her hands up, "Just get out of my room, okay?"

He took one last opportunity to look her over again, to make her feel uncomfortable, before he finally stood up and pulled at the collar of his jacket to straighten it out. He smiled, then left.

* * *

On Saturday morning, Casey was awaken by someone urgently shaking her. She groaned and tried to swat them with a pillow, missing several times before she finally turned over. Wiping at her eyes, she slowly opened her lids, adjusting her eyes to the morning. It was Lizzie.

"We're going to see Grandpa Harold today," Casey's little sister said.

"Tell mom that I'll just stay here," Casey groaned in response.

Lizzie shrugged, "She said that you and Derek could stay here if you wanted. But I was hoping you would go."

Casey was fully awake now. She glanced up at Lizzie to see if her little sister could see how those words affected her. _You and Derek could stay here. _Thankfully, Lizzie was barely awake herself and Casey was good at hiding her feelings.

"I think I'll just go," Casey replied, throwing back the covers, "I don't want to leave you with Grandpa's childhood stories."

Lizzie smiled, "Thanks, Casey," and then she raced out of the room.

Casey glanced out into the hallway just in time to see Lizzie give George a thumbs up. Her stepfather flung open Derek's bedroom door and entered his room. He flipped on the light switch and stood over his son's bed. He waited a few moments before speaking.

"Derek!" he yelled.

Casey heard Derek groan, and although she couldn't see into his room, she could picture him covering his head with his bed sheets.

"Derek, wake up," George said.

"Go away," Derek moaned.

George rolled his eyes, and pulled the sheets off the bed and onto the floor. Derek curled into a ball and put an arm up to shield his eyes.

"What did you do that for?" he asked.

"We're all going to Grandpa Harold's today," George said, "You can either get up and go or stay here."

"I'll just stay here," he replied, "He's not even my real grandpa, and his stories are so boring."

"Fine," George commented, "But just behave, please. The only reason we're letting you stay here by yourself is because you and Casey did a good job last weekend."

Derek shot up, "Casey's going?"

Casey was at his bedroom door by that time. He glanced up at her and noticed that she looked good after just waking. The way her hair was in a slightly messy bun, and how her tank top rode up on her hips revealing her smooth, flat stomach. He tried to hide his smile when he thought about how uncomfortable he had made her feel last night with just a look. When his eyes finally connected with hers, he noticed that she was doing the exact thing now. She was watching him. He looked down and realized that the covers were on the floor, and he was just wearing his boxers, sprawled out on his bed. He felt awkward under her gaze.

Casey noticed this and grinned, feeling triumphant, then said, "Yes, I'm going. Unlike some of us, I care about the members of my family," she paused, "Well, _most_ of them."

She turned to go to the bathroom to get ready. George didn't notice the lingering looks they were giving each other. He didn't see how Casey's eyes paused on Derek's body longer than they should have. All he noticed was that Casey and Derek were back to being, well, Casey and Derek.

"Just remember the rules," George said, "Absolutely no parties. Nobody comes over unless you call first and-"

"I'll just go," Derek interrupted, standing and stretching.

George looked puzzled, "What?"

"I'm going," Derek replied, picking up a shirt off of his floor and smelling it.

"I thought you hated going to see Grandpa Harold," George said suspiciously, "You hate his stories. You just told me you thought they were boring."

Derek shrugged, "They're not _that_ bad."

He seemed satisfied with the cleanliness of the shirt and slipped it on. George let out a little laugh, and Derek turned to look at him.

"What?" he asked defensively.

"Nothing," his father replied, shaking his head and turning to leave.

* * *

Derek was the last to stroll outside. He saw his dad getting into the driver's seat of the minivan. He then saw Nora clambering to get Marti into a booster seat in the middle row by the window, while Lizzie and Edwin sat in the remaining seats beside her. Casey was sitting by herself in the back seat, a pair of headphones plastered to her head, staring absently out the window. He adjusted the collar of his jacket and went to the minivan.

Casey ignored him as he crawled into the back to sit beside her. She just propped her arm up on the window and looked outside. He reached back and grabbed his seat belt, buckling it. Marti was already screaming about singing car songs and Lizzie and Edwin were trying to calm her down. They rolled out of the driveway and were soon on the highway.

"There was a farmer with a dog!" Marti continued to scream.

Nobody had the heart to tell her she was singing the whole thing wrong, and it didn't even bother Casey because she kept her headphones on. Derek glanced jealously over at her, wishing he had thought to bring some kind of ear protection. He reached over and started to pull the headphones off of her head.

"Derek! What are you doing?" she yelled, hitting at his arm.

He managed to get them off her head, "I want to use your headphones," he reached over and snatched the Discman she was holding in her lap, "And your CD player."

"Mom!" Casey screamed, then turned to Derek, "Give me that back. You have no right to take my things."

"Derek!" George warned, glancing in the rearview mirror.

Derek sighed, then looked at Casey, sticking out his bottom lip, "Can I borrow it, Casey?"

She hesitated as if she were contemplating being nice, then smiled, "No."

Yanking her headphones and Discman out of his hands, she turned her music up even louder and continued to stare out the window. Derek rolled his eyes and looked out the window on his side. He saw miles and miles of blank fields. They were covered in brown, dead grass. Casey's Grandpa Harold lived out in the middle of nowhere, in a little one story house that had no carpet or curtains. The dog that always greeted them in the front yard always looked close to death, but every time they came to visit the old thing was still trotting bleakly around.

Out of the corner of his eye, Derek saw Casey's hand move to grip the edge of the seat between them. He paused for a moment, then continued to stare out the window. Every few seconds he would glance down at her hand on the seat. Cautiously, he placed his hand beside hers, the sides of their palms nearly touching. Propping his head up with his other arm, he pretended to be engrossed by the scenery. But the only change in landscape was a dilapidated old silo and a rusted tractor. Hardly captivating.

He felt her hand twitch slightly, her fingers stretching out only to grip the seat once more. She yawned lazily. Derek licked his lips, then glanced up to see Marti and Nora sleeping, Lizzie and Edwin staring down at a Gameboy, and his father steadily driving and humming to the Phil Collins song on the radio. He moved his hand closer to Casey's. For a moment, he thought for sure she was going to withdraw her hand and place it in her lap.

But she didn't. Instead, she shifted her hand so it was touching his. He bit the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling. For a second, George looked in the rearview to see why everybody was being so quiet. In the back, all he saw was Derek and Casey staring blankly out the opposite windows. He continued driving. Derek let their hands rest there together for a moment until he moved to place his hand on top of hers.

She shifted in her seat, afraid that he would feel how sweaty her palms were becoming. But he didn't. All he noticed was how delicate her hands were. She turned her hand over so her palm was facing up, and he made tiny circles there with his fingertips. He wished that he could look over at her, to gauge her reaction, but he continued to observe the landscape.

Casey gently took his hand and turned it over so she could trace the lines of his palm. He swallowed hard as she gently stroked his hand, raking her fingertips across his skin over and over. Derek was just about to turn his head to look at her when he heard his father's voice,

"We're here!"

They quickly pulled their hands apart as the minivan bumped down the gravel driveway. Lizzie and Edwin shut off their game and stuffed it in the pocket on the back of George's seat. Nora awoke, wiped at her eyes, and turned back to smile at Derek.

"You know, Derek, Grandpa Harold has always liked you," she said genuinely, "I'm so glad you came."

He smiled back, "Me, too."


	8. Grandpa's House

_Part Eight: Grandpa's House_

"When I was your age, the only toy I had was a tin can to kick around the yard," Grandpa Harold announced stuffily, "And I could only play with it when my mother wasn't using it to cook with."

Nora and George exchange pleasant glances while Derek and Casey rolled their eyes at each other. They were sitting next to each other on one of the brown, wooly sofas in the living area while their parents and the kids sat on the other one. Casey and Derek kept shifting uncomfortably, afraid of touching one another again and also of falling through the old, worn sofa. Grandpa Harold, with his socks stretching up to his knees, was sitting in a brand new recliner that one of his other children had gotten him for Christmas.

"So, Dad," Nora said, sure that her children didn't want to hear about her father's misfortunes anymore, "How have you been?"

He waved off the comment, "I'm happier than I've been in years."

"And your health?" George spoke up.

"I couldn't feel better," Grandpa Harold replied, then gestured to his body, "I mean look at me! I haven't been this fit in years."

Derek let out a laugh that everybody seemed to notice except Grandpa Harold. George shot his son a look of warning. Derek's smile quickly faded, but when he saw that Casey was fighting back a smile herself, he couldn't help but smile again as well.

"So, Daniel," Grandpa Harold said, "How's the ranching business treating you?"

A silence fell over the group as they tried to figure out who he was talking about. They followed his gaze and saw that it landed on Derek. He smiled, confused.

"My name is Derek," he said, then continued as if he were speaking to a child, "D-E-R-E-K. Derek."

Casey nudged him with her elbow and whispered playfully, "Congratulations. You can spell your own name."

"No, you're Daniel," Grandpa Harold said, waving off his comment, "You have a ranch down in Montana and you're getting married in September."

Casey laughed, "No, Grandpa, this is Derek. He's my stepbrother. And no girl in her right mind would ever want to marry him."

Grandpa Harold put a hand to his ear, "Eh?" then he just clicked his tongue, "Oh, well. Who wants lunch?"

"I do!" Marti yelled, climbing out of Nora's lap and racing to her grandfather.

"Well, come on Mary Ann," he said, reaching down to grab her hand as they walked to the kitchen.

"Do you guys want some lunch?" George asked, standing up.

"Yeah, I'll be right in there," Casey replied, standing as well.

She stretched, hating that they had to sit on these dumpy sofas after they had just spent three hours riding in a car. Her butt ached from the hard spring that had been poking her the entire time she was being forced to listen to prehistoric stories. She wandered off down the hall to find the bathroom. Every time she came, she carefully observed the pictures on the walls in the hall.

There were several pictures of men and women, boys and girls, friends and family. Nora was just one of Grandpa Harold's six children. Casey didn't even want to begin to count how many grandchildren that left him with. There was a boy that Casey was sure she was related to, but had never met. He was wearing a United States military uniform and leaning against a fence with faraway mountains in the background.

_That must be Daniel,_ she thought, with a smile.

Then there was a girl who looked Casey's age in another picture, but who by now was probably ancient. She had on a long skirt and was sitting underneath a large tree while a man stood beside her. His arm was by his side, grasping her outstretched hand and they were smiling. Casey smiled, too.

After observing a few other pictures, she quickly made it to the bathroom. She heard her mother and George in the kitchen loudly trying to explain to Grandpa Harold that they were married, and had been for about a year now, and that Derek most definitely was not Daniel.

"Derek is my stepson, Dad!" Nora explained, "He lives with us, and he's no good with his house chores, so I doubt he would be able to manage a ranch!"

Casey smiled to herself, washing her hands in the porcelain sink and drying them with the hand towel beside the faucet. She opened the door and Derek was standing there. She jumped, startled, and then put a hand to her chest. Her heart was racing. And not just because she had been surprised.

"Do you have to stand right at the door?" Casey demanded angrily, then gestured to the bathroom, "Here. It's all yours."

She expected Derek to take a step back to allow her to pass, but as she stepped forward, so did he. She smiled nervously, flipping her hair over her shoulder before crossing her arms. She was going to say something clever, she was sure, but he took another step forward and forced her to take another one back.

"What are you doing, Daniel?" she asked, trying to lighten the mood and simultaneously tease him.

He laughed, "Apparently trying to herd my cattle."

Casey shot him a vicious look, "I'm hungry. So, move."

But all he did was reach to push the bathroom door shut. She noticed that his eyes didn't leave hers as he also locked it. She swallowed hard. She was going to fight this. He wasn't going to get away with this again. What happened in the car earlier was just…just…

_Wonderful,_ Casey thought, without regret.

She laughed nervously as she realized her back was against the bathroom sink, causing the image of her and Derek in the kitchen from last weekend to pop into her head. She put a hand to his chest to try to push him away. He didn't budge. She laughed awkwardly, and wouldn't meet his gaze. After a few moments, she tried to push him back again, but he remained steady.

"I don't know what you think you're doing," she said, her voice turning hoarse, "But I don't like it."

Derek smirked, and then bent to press his lips to her exposed collarbone. His lips burned against her skin, and she shivered.

"You don't like it?" he whispered.

She closed her eyes, "No."

His mouth moved up her neck, placing kisses her at her shoulder, then up and up until he reached the place right behind her ear.

"You don't?" he asked again.

By now, Casey was slightly panting, she opened her eyes and saw the top of his head, "No."

Derek lifted his head, so his lips were right in front of hers. He watched her as she closed her eyes. He leaned in slowly and brushed his mouth against hers, hoping that her lips were now tingling as bad as his were. She let out a small moan. He smiled, satisfied.

"You don't?" he asked.

"I do," Casey gasped.

In one swift movement, Derek had his arms around her and crushed his lips against hers. She couldn't move, couldn't even breathe for a moment. His hand was in her hair, gently patting it and stroking it as if he was trying to be polite. Casey would have thought it strange had she not been so preoccupied with the feel of his body against hers. She wasn't the one to finally pull away. It was Derek.

"Oh my God," Derek breathed.

"Derek…" Casey began.

She was trying to look into his eyes, but he refused to let her, just standing there in front of her. He started for the door, but paused as his hand gripped the handle.

"Can I kiss you again?" he asked.

"Derek, we can't do this," Casey whispered, her head feeling light and dizzy.

"I know, I know," he replied.

"But, you can kiss me again," Casey replied, looking down at her hands, "If you want to."

Derek turned back to her and gently pressed his lips to hers with the intention of just feeling her lips against his once more before they finally ended this whole thing. But, as he felt her again, he couldn't help himself. He lifted her onto the edge of the counter and stepped between her legs. It was urgent, all of it. They pressed into each other, fighting to see who would give in first. But neither did.

"Casey…" Derek drifted between kisses, "We can't….this isn't…"

He couldn't complete a sentence. He had never seen this kind of desire in Casey before, not about anything. Cautiously, his tongue darted out to touch her lips. She parted her lips to let him in. She had never kissed a boy like this before. It was awkward at first, but they soon found a rhythm of kissing, touching, and moaning that seemed to fit. Casey arched against him.

"Casey…" he began again.

"Yeah?" she managed to reply.

He gasped for another breath before replying, "I…we…need to go…"

Casey pulled back suddenly, releasing the grip she had on his shirt. He stumbled back a few steps. They both looked bewildered, their lips swollen and clothes slightly ruffled. Casey wiped at her mouth and hopped off the counter. She tugged at her shirt.

"Derek! Casey! Time for lunch!" George yelled from the kitchen.

Casey quickly darted out of the bathroom without looking back at him. She was sure that if she did, she wouldn't be able to leave. She joined her family in the kitchen where she sat down without a word. A few moments later, Derek joined them.

"What were you two doing back there?" Nora asked.

"Looking at the pictures," Casey said, glancing up so her eyes met Derek's, "It was nothing."


	9. Hurt You Like I Do

_Part Nine: Hurt You Like I Do_

Derek awoke late on Sunday, laying in bed for several extra moments before finally getting up. Moving to the bathroom, he shed his clothes and showered. It was on his way back to his room that he ultimately decided to peer over at Casey's bedroom. The door was slightly cracked, and he tried to casually angle himself so he could see inside. But, he found this difficult, so he took a deep breath and went to her door. He peered inside, but her bed was empty. Pushing the door open fully, he found her entire room to be empty.

"Looking for Casey?" George asked as he climbed the stairs.

Derek jumped, "Huh? Oh, no. Not really."

George regarded his son strangely, "She went out with Sam."

"Sam?" Derek asked, "As in my friend, Sam?"

"Do you know another Sam?" George asked, laughing.

Derek smiled and shook his head, trotting down the stairs. He ate breakfast, checking his watch every few minutes. Nora came in with Marti on her hip and asked if he wanted to go grocery shopping with them. He shook his head. For some reason, he didn't feel like doing much of anything. The phone rang as he was watching television and he quickly answered it.

"Hey Derek," a feminine voice said on the other end.

Except it wasn't Casey. It was Hannah. He wondered for a moment why she was calling him. Only a week ago he had called her by another girl's name. His stepsister's name. And she had stormed out of the house. He hadn't seen her at school much, except in passing when she ignored him. The funny thing was that he didn't mind it at all.

"Hey, Hannah," he said, "What's up?"

"Oh, nothing," she said sweetly, "I was just sitting here thinking about how lonely I am. I was hoping we could meet up and do something."

"I don't know," Derek began, but then paused.

He could stay at the house all day, wondering what Casey and Sam were up to. He could sit there and drive himself crazy thinking about all of the things they could be doing together. Or, he could go out with Hannah and forget about it all.

"Sure. Yeah, let's do something," he said.

"Great!" Hannah squealed, "I was thinking we could go to the mall because they're having this really huge sale at my favorite store. And then we could go to the movie theater and see that new Johnny Depp movie I've been dying to see."

"Sounds great," Derek replied, half-sarcastic and half-honestly.

A day with Hannah at the mall and movies wasn't exactly appealing. Sure, he had been interested in her a week ago. He distinctly remembered inviting her over just so he could be near her. Or more appropriately, so he could do the kinds of things to her that he had done to Casey yesterday. He shook his head.

"I'll meet you at the mall in an hour," he said.

"See you there!" she squealed, hanging up the phone.

Derek placed the phone back onto its cradle, and sighed. His dad walked into the living room, a newspaper in his hand. He noticed the look of discontent on his son's face.

"Something wrong?" he asked, then eyed the phone, "Who was that?"

"Hannah Stevens," Derek replied.

"Big plans tonight?" his dad continued.

"Um, we were just going to go hang out for a little while," Derek explained, shrugging.

"Don't sound too excited," his dad joked.

"I am excited," Derek replied defensively, "I'm just trying to psych myself up, you know, get in the right frame of mind for the ladies."

George laughed, wondering where it was his son got all his confidence and charm. He hit Derek on the head with the newspaper as he started for the kitchen.

"Hey, dad?" Derek said.

"Yeah, Derek?" he replied.

He shrugged casually, "Casey didn't happen to say where she was going with Sam today, did she?"

"Um, something about bowling and dinner," his dad replied, "Why?"

"Oh, I was just wondering," Derek replied, "Just incase Hannah and I ran into her or something."

George smiled, "You really like her, don't you?"

Derek could literally feel his heart stopping. Certainly, his dad couldn't be talking about Casey. Was he being that obvious? He continued,

"What? What makes you think that? I mean, why would I like her? I can't even stand being around Casey."

George was taken aback, "I'm talking about Hannah, Derek."

His heart resumed its regular rhythm, "Of course you are. Yeah, I do. I mean, Hannah's a great girl. Um, I'm going to go finish getting ready. See you later."

Derek quickly climbed the stairs and shut himself in his room. Looking in the mirror, he wondered when he had become so transparent. He wondered why he was acting this way; nervous, anxious, and confused. Hoping that his father couldn't, and wouldn't, sense anything strange going on, he grabbed his wallet and left for the mall.

* * *

"Oh my gosh, Derek, don't you think I would look amazing in this?" Hannah squealed, peeling a shirt off of the sales rack and holding it to her.

"Sure," he replied.

"I'm going to go try it on. I'll be right back," she said.

He was glad when she finally disappeared into the fitting room. It had been a torturous two hours as they roamed from store to store and he waited for her to try on clothes. It was: _Derek, you could get a shirt just this color and we would match! _or _Kaley Matthews would never be able to pull this off, right?_ If he had to hear one more word about pastels, Kaley's rumored anorexia, or whether or not the stores took Visa, Derek was sure he would have to hurl himself down the escalator. A week ago, he wouldn't have thought of Hannah as spoiled, obnoxious, or vain. But now, that was all he thought of her. She felt the need to talk constantly, and not about anything that mattered or made sense. The only thing she talked about was her.

Derek wandered outside of the store, leaning against the railing and looking down at the people on the lower level. He couldn't remember the last time he had just stopped to watch people. He was always so busy looking at himself in the mirror, always assuming that other people should look at him, too, and not the other way around. He sighed. He was just like Hannah Stevens. No wonder Casey had always hated him

_What makes you think she doesn't still hate you? You have done some pretty awful things to her, you know. _

It was true. He had done something pretty terrible things to her just for the sake of making her angry. The truth was that when his father had announced that he was getting remarried and that the woman he was marrying had a girl his age, Derek had been ecstatic. And when he first met Casey, he had liked her. He thought she was beautiful. But when they all moved in together, everything changed. After thinking it through, he realized that he couldn't like his stepsister. What would people think?

So, that was when he started being mean. If he could just get her to hate him, then maybe he could feel the same way towards her. If they were constantly fighting, then there would be no time for anything else. But for some reason in the kitchen the other day, he had tested that boundary. And then again in her bedroom. And now in Grandpa Harold's bathroom. And it wasn't so much that-

"Derek! I was looking all over for you! Where did you go?" Hannah demanded, now carrying an extra shopping bag.

Derek raised his eyebrows, "Um, from there," he pointed to the inside of the store they had just been in, "to here."

She didn't sense his sarcasm, "You won't believe it. I got to the register and it was even cheaper than I thought it would be. Amazing, huh?"

"Shocking," he agreed.

She glanced at her watch, "Oh my gosh, we'd better hurry if we're going to make it to the six thirty show!"

She grabbed his arm, dragging him along. And they only stopped at two other stores (_If I don't just go see what they have, I'll die!_ Hannah had exclaimed), before they finally made it to the theater.

* * *

An afternoon with Hannah Stevens and Johnny Depp wasn't exactly how Derek had planned on spending his Sunday. Hannah refused to let him buy her any popcorn (_she was watching her figure)_ or soda _(because it has, like, a zillion calories!)_ or candy _(think of the cavities, Derek)_. And, in turn, she wouldn't let him buy anything, either. They were already late, but since it was a Sunday, the theater was sparse with moviegoers. She talked the entire time, popping the sugar-free, calorie-free gum in her mouth loudly and giggling every time the masked hero appeared shirtless. Johnny swooped a girl into his arms and kissed her passionately.

"You could do that to me, you know," Hannah said, leaning in close.

"I could," he replied, concentrating on the screen.

Okay, so he wasn't concentrating on the screen. He wasn't even concentrating on the fact that every now and then, Hannah would brush her arm against his or lean in to whisper in his ear. Sure, he had been trying to do the exact same things a week ago to her. But now it all seemed so trivial, so worthless.

"Why don't you try it?" she asked.

"We're in a movie theater, Hannah," Derek said, "Besides, I don't want…"

He drifted when he saw the expression on her face turn from flirty to serious. She raised an eyebrow, sucking in her cheeks. She was angry.

"You don't want to what?" she demanded.

"I don't want to…to…" he began, "I don't want to ruin such a great moment by kissing you in such a dumpy place. It should be somewhere more suitable."

"Oh, Derek, you are so romantic!" she said, leaning her head on his shoulder.

She left her head there, her cheek nuzzled into the crook of his neck until the movie was over. Derek couldn't have told you a single thing about the movie as the credits rolled. He couldn't even tell you a single thing about Hannah. Yesterday, when he had kissed Casey in the bathroom he could tell what kind of body spray she was wearing _(vanilla)_, which shampoo she had used that morning _(green apple)_, and even the flavor of gum that she had chewed the entire car ride there _(cinnamon)_. Now, he wasn't even sure if he could tell the color of Hannah's hair if she wasn't standing right in front of him.

Hannah left with her mom, and he expertly dodged any serious kisses, only letting her give him a quick peck on the cheek. He waved as he watched her ride away. Hopping on the city bus, he rode it to the stop nearest his house and walked the rest of the way. It was getting close to summer, so the sun was just now setting, even at this late hour. There was still a chill in the air, and he couldn't wait until those nights when he didn't even need a jacket. He couldn't wait for summer to finally arrive. No school. No homework. No Hannah. He figured he could effectively ditch her by the time school let out, and then focus his attentions on Casey.

He smiled to himself when he realized that he had been focusing his attention on Casey all day. Hell, he had been focusing his attention on her since the day they met. It was just that now their interactions were slightly skewed. He approached the house, noticing two figures on the porch. As he neared, he noticed that it was Sam and Casey. She was laughing at something he had just said. He watched as Sam reached out and brushed a piece of hair out of her face. Derek felt sick inside. He felt sick because he knew what brushing a girl's hair out of her face meant. He had done it to plenty of girls. It meant nothing but trouble.

"Hey guys!" he called out, jogging up to them.

He joined them on the porch, stuffing his hands in his back pockets and grinning at them both. He wouldn't meet Casey's eyes fully, would only dart back and forth between her and Sam.

"Hey, Derek," Sam said.

"What are you guys doing out here?" Derek asked, then rubbed his arms, "It's getting cold out here, eh?"

"Yeah," Sam said, starting down the stairs, "Well, I'll see you at school, Casey. Oh, are we still going to play hockey with the guys this week, Derek?"

"You bet," Derek replied, waving him off, "See you later, Sam."

As soon as Sam had made his way down the driveway and around the block, Derek turned to Casey, who was just leaning casually against the porch railing. She had a smug look on her face.

"What were you doing with Sam?" Derek asked.

"Apparently something that you didn't want me to be doing," she replied.

"I'm just looking out for you, Casey," he explained.

"Oh, really? So, pinning me to my bed and making out with me in a bathroom, and then completely ignoring me is looking out for me? Because I thought that when you were looking out for someone, you didn't treat them like a toy," she said, her expression turning from smug to angry, "You don't play with their emotions because it makes you feel better about yourself. I'm tired of you thinking you can get anything you want. No more, Derek."

"Casey," Derek said, reaching out to grab her arm before she went inside, "I just don't want you to do something with Sam if you don't like him. Don't go throw yourself at him just because you're trying to get even with me."

"See, that's just what I mean," Casey scoffed, incredulous, "You think everything is about you. If I go out with Sam, it's because I'm trying to make you jealous. If I accidentally go in the bathroom when you're taking a shower, it's because I find you irresistible. If I breathe, it's because I want to make you mad that I'm still alive. I'm sorry, Derek, but the world does not revolve around you."

"I never said-" he began.

"You know, I don't know what to think about you anymore," she said, "And I don't know what's going on between us, but I don't think I like it."

Casey felt terrible when she noticed the look of dismay that crossed his face. He was hurt. And maybe that wasn't what she intended when she began her ranting, but maybe it was what Derek needed. They couldn't do what they had been doing. She wasn't even sure why they had been doing it. Maybe it was because she couldn't stop seeing Derek as anything but an enemy. She cleared her throat.

"Funny how you get so mad when you see me with Sam, but you spent the entire day out with Hannah," she said.

"How did you know I was out with Hannah?" he asked.

"You're not the only person that is allowed to go to the mall," she retorted.

"Dad said you guys were just going bowling and to get dinner," he said.

"So, you're keeping tabs on me now?" she asked.

"That's not how it sounds," he said, "I just asked him where you were today, that's all. I wasn't thinking."

Casey bit her lip, focusing her eyes on the dog playing in the yard next door. If she looked at Derek, she was sure she would burst into tears. Because everything she was saying to him, she wanted to instantly take back. But she couldn't. She knew Derek's reputation. She was going to end this before it got too far.

"Oh, really? Because it seems that, for the first time since last weekend, you were actually thinking like you normally do. You were going to go work your _mojo_," she said, emphasizing the word deliberately in mockery, "with Hannah, get what you could get, and then come back to me and try to do whatever it is you've been trying to do."

"Casey, that's ridiculous," he laughed.

"I'm glad you think this is funny," she said, tears welling in her eyes.

He reached out to touch her, but she withdrew. Casey shook her head, wiping at her eyes.

"You won't ever change, Derek Venturi," she said, "Which is why we can't do this. I don't want to get hurt."

"I won't hurt you, Casey," he pleaded.

"I wish I could believe that," she said, opening the front door, "But I just can't."

She shut the door behind her, brushing off the questions from George and her mother about how her day had been, and locking herself in her bedroom until she was sure that everybody, and especially Derek, would leave her alone.


	10. Don't Get Me Rescued

_Part Ten: Don't Get Me Rescued_

Casey cried herself to sleep that night. And as soon as she drifted into an anything but peaceful slumber, she was awaken by the sound of the door to her room creaking open. She lay with her back to the door, staring at the wall. She knew it was him. Ever since she met Derek Venturi, she could sense when he was around. It was hard fighting the urge to turn over and look at him. She closed her eyes, reminding herself that she was making the right decision. She sank down slightly when she felt him sit on the other side of the bed.

"Are you asleep?" he whispered.

She didn't say a word, just stirred slightly in response. While she wanted him to believe that she didn't care, there was a part of her that also wanted to hear him out.

"I'm sorry about what happened earlier," he began, and she noticed that he sounded nervous, "The only reason I went out with Hannah today was because you were out with Sam."

He waited for her to say something, but she remained silent, so he continued, "I've been thinking about what you said earlier, on the porch. And I don't know what's been going on with us, either. I've tried to figure it out, and I just can't. I, um, just wanted you to know that if you want this over, then it's over. Just say the word."

She parted her lips to say something, but all she could do was sigh. She wanted this to be over. It was wrong. She knew it, and so did he. Ask anybody, and they would agree that it all seemed terribly askew from every angle. They were stepsiblings—granted, not related by blood, but somehow connected by their parents. They hated each other. They always would. Weren't all of those reasons good enough for her to just say the word?

But she didn't. Because deep down, she knew she didn't want to say it. By verbally denying what was going on, she was doing nothing more than lying aloud. Because in her heart, this feeling would never go away.

"Casey, will you please talk to me?" Derek asked.

She relented, flipping over to face him. He looked good in the moonlight that was filtering through her window. He also looked tired.

"This is wrong," she said.

"All the more reason to do it," Derek joked.

She smiled, "You won't change, Derek. You won't."

"You don't know that, Casey," he said.

She squeezed her pillow tighter, "I do. As much as you don't want to believe it, I know you. I know you better than anybody else."

He knew this was true. Casey saw him on his good and bad days. She saw how he could truly be—lying, manipulative, and down right rude. He prided himself in the fact that she didn't say the word. She didn't admit that she wanted it to end.

"I want this to end," she whispered at that moment.

_Okay, maybe I was a bit too hasty in my assertion, _he thought

"Casey, you don't mean that," he said.

"I do mean it, Derek," she replied, looking into his eyes for the first time since he'd come into her room.

"Fine," he said, standing, "If that's what you want."

"It's what I want," she said, turning back over, her lips spouting lies that her mind and her heart were begging her to take back.

He didn't even make it to her bedroom door before that feeling of dread and anger filled him. He couldn't believe that for once in his life he had thought that he could care, _really_ care, about a girl. The sadness he had been feeling ever since Casey left him standing on the porch quickly turned to bitterness.

"You know what? Just forget I said anything, okay?" Derek said, "Just forget it."

He wanted to say more. He could have said more, but he couldn't think about anything other than the aching in his chest. Leaving her room and returning to his own, he slept fretfully the rest of the night.

* * *

Casey awoke early on Monday, scrambling to get ready and out of the house before Derek awoke. Nora asked her why she was so impatient to get to school, and she told some lie about meeting Emily early for a project they were working on. Just as she was racing out the front door, she heard Derek grumbling as he came out of his bedroom and went to the bathroom.

She did, in fact, go to Emily's to meet her friend before school. Emily always knew how to make her feel better, despite their very different personalities. She got to the house, knocking on the front door. Emily answered the knocks, still in pajamas.

"Oh my gosh!" Emily exclaimed, "Am I late? Are we going to miss first period?"

"It's okay. I'm early," Casey said, trying to calm her friend down, "No worries."

Emily breathed a sigh of relief before eyeing Casey suspiciously, "I know you're really into school and everything, but why are you here so early?"

Casey shrugged, brushing past her friend and into the house, "It was such a beautiful day. I just thought I would get an early start."

"Are you and Derek fighting again?" Emily demanded, her hand on her hip, "Because if he is being mean to you, I will crush his ugly, stupid…" her tone went from angry to floating, "beautiful, amazing…" then back to angry, "head with my bare hands. But I cannot promise you that I will mess up his amazing hair."

"We're not fighting," Casey said flippantly, "I told you; I just wanted to get an early start. You know, come see my best friend."

Emily gave her the once over, "All right. Come on, you can help me pick out what I should wear today."

Casey smiled, following her up the stairs. She entered Emily's room, which was a disaster zone. Clothes were strewn about the place, her dresser was just a big pile of makeup and jewelry, and the bed was messy and unmade. Casey literally cringed when she saw it. How could people live in such filth?

The image of Derek's room flashed into her mind. It looked exactly like this—a total mess. Maybe Emily and Derek really would be a good pair. They both had an absolute disregard for cleanliness. Casey shook her head, finding that even picturing Derek's room made her want to cry.

"So, what do you think? This shirt and these jeans?" Emily asked, holding the two pieces of clothing to her body.

"I like-" Casey began.

"Or this skirt and this blouse?" Emily cut her off, tossing the shirt and jeans aside, picking up her new outfit.

"I think that would-"

"Or I was thinking maybe this sundress with this sweater would look totally amazing," Emily fretted.

Casey didn't bother saying anything. She just stood there and looked at Emily as she held the dress to her body. Emily looked at her expectantly.

"Well?" her friend asked.

"Oh, um…" she began, "The dress. And the sweater. I like them."

"Good! Because I was leaning towards this before you came," Emily said, "Let me get changed, and we'll be out in a flash!"

Casey watched Emily disappear into the bathroom across the hall. All she could do now was wait.

* * *

Casey decided that Emily's definition of _in a flash_ was much different than her own. Because when people said such a phrase to Casey, she imagined them darting in and out, ready for action in a matter of seconds. To Emily, it must have meant just the opposite: slowly undressing and slipping into the dress, coming out to fret over whether or not it was the right decision, then disappearing back into the bathroom to do her makeup, coming back out to find her cherry lip gloss, going back into the bathroom to find her raspberry lotion, coming back out to find the slides that would match perfectly, only finding one of the slides in her closet, disappearing downstairs to find the other one, and then scrambling to find her notebooks for school until she was finally ready.

Definitely _not_ Casey's idea of _in a flash_. But, they got to school on time and got to first period without any trouble. It was math. Emily kept passing her notes about summer vacation. Casey tried her best to ignore the notes, wanting instead to concentrate on the new concepts the teacher was presenting. She couldn't fall behind in class. But, out of curiosity, she snuck a glance at the note to see what Emily was talking about.

_We could go to the beach for a week. Wouldn't that be amazing? Your parents would so be into that. They're way cooler than mine. Plus, Derek would be there, and that would be way cool for me._

Casey rolled her eyes. Why was everyone so obsessed with Derek? She blushed when she remembered that just a few days ago, she might have written the exact kind of note to Emily had they been able to talk about it. She wrote back.

_I don't like the beach. And I couldn't stand having my vacation ruined by having Derek there. Can't write back. Need to concentrate!_

Emily frowned, and then put the note away, trying to concentrate herself. When the bell rang for the next class, Emily and Casey started for their lockers. Casey opened her locker, shoving her math book in and pulling her history book out. She felt Emily nudge her excitedly.

"Derek's coming," Emily whispered excitedly, "I think he's coming to talk to me!"

Casey glanced down the hall and saw Derek approaching, childishly popping the collar of his trademark leather jacket. Everybody around him was busy sucking up to him to even notice how big of a jerk he was. He stopped at Casey, casually leaning against the lockers beside her own.

"Hey Casey," he said.

She ignored him, fumbling through her locker for something she didn't even need. Emily was having spasms beside her, constantly touching her hair and batting her eyelashes. It used to annoy her. Now, it just made her angry.

"What do you want, Derek?" Casey asked.

"I need to talk to you," Derek said, "Maybe you could meet me at my locker during lunch?"

Casey turned her back on Emily, lowering her voice. The last thing she wanted was Emily thinking that there was something going on.

"Not at school, Derek," she hissed.

"Well, you kind of left the house at the crack of dawn, and this is kind of important," he said, "So, either we talk about it during lunch or we'll talk about it now. Emily would probably love to know what I have to say."

"Fine," Casey relented, "But don't keep me waiting."

Derek pushed off of the lockers, and then glanced at Emily, "Nice dress."

Emily squealed with excitement as Derek walked away. She turned to Casey and grabbed her arm, jumping up and down. Casey finally jerked her arm away before Emily could shake her head off.

"Did you hear what he just said?" Emily asked, "He liked my dress. Derek Venturi liked my dress. Can you believe that? Oh my gosh, this is the best day of my life!"

_Well, at least you're having a good day,_ Casey thought, _Because as far as I'm concerned, this is the worst day of my life._

* * *

The bell for lunch rang seven minutes ago, and Casey had darted straight out of class and right to Derek's locker. She waited impatiently as she scanned the crowded hallways for him. But, he was nowhere to be found. The warning bell rang and she was growing anxious. Everyone began to filter into the cafeteria, and she nervously tapped her foot. The last person disappeared in through the double doors, rushing to get in line for their chicken fingers and mystery slop.

"Hey, Casey!" she heard Derek's familiar voice.

She turned and saw him standing at the end of the hallway. He motioned for her to follow him as he darted down another hall. Pulling her bag further onto her shoulder, she walked fast to keep up with him. Turning down the hall where she had seen him disappear, he opened the last door on the right at the very end of the hall. Frustrated, she walked furiously down to see where he went. It was the supply room. She opened the door, walking in. It was dark at first, but as the door slammed behind her, she heard a click and Derek was standing in the middle of the room. He let go of the light bulb chain that was dangling from the ceiling and looked at her.

"This is not your locker," she said.

"Good observation, Case," he smirked.

She crossed her arms, "What do you want to talk about?"

"I actually wasn't thinking about talking," he said, stepping towards her.

She quickly darted behind one of the shelves, hoping the cold metal framework between them would make him realize that he was acting incoherently. School had finally driven him insane.

_Or maybe it's me that's made him crazy,_ Casey thought.

He stood on the other side of the shelf, bracing himself against it and looking at her over the stacks of paper and textbooks.

"Playing hard to get?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm not playing," she said, "I'm very serious."

"You know, by denying me, you're only making me want you more," he smiled, moving with her as she started walking down the length of the shelf.

"Did you not hear a word I said last night?" Casey asked.

"I did," he replied.

"Then, why aren't you abiding by any of the rules we set?" she asked.

"Um, the last time I checked, they were _your _rules," he explained, "I had nothing to do with them."

"Well, then you should respect my decisions," she said, growing nervous as he watched her through the shelves.

"But, Casey, have we not learned the concept of compromise?" he asked, "You see, when you compromise, you make a decision that both parties accept. And I don't accept this."

She reached the end of the shelf, and they both stepped out from behind it to face each other. He noticed that she licked her lips, and it drove him crazy. He knew what she was expecting. He reached to grab her wrist, pulling her close, and their lips collided. Everything Casey had said the previous night flew out of her mind. She regretted going out with Sam just to spite Derek. She hated that she had left him standing on the front porch. But, it all melted away as his lips melted into hers.

"Derek…" she murmured, as he gently pressed her against the shelf.

She didn't mind the cold metal sinking into her back, because his lips and hands were so warm that she couldn't be uncomfortable at all. All she could think about was how she wanted, wanted, wanted. Gripping the collar of his jacket, she pulled him closer and she could feel him smile against her lips. The metal shelf shook behind her, and she heard the rustle of papers as they fell to the ground. There were a few loud thumps as some textbooks followed. She ran her fingers through his hair. Emily was right, he did have great hair. Casey felt him moving against her, felt how much he wanted her, too.

The door flew open and they quickly separated. It was Casey's geography teacher. They looked at the old lady innocently. Derek stuffed his hands in his back pockets, and Casey smiled.

"I heard some racket in here," she said, "What is going on?"

"We were asked to clean up the mess in here, Mrs. Gilbert," Casey said.

"Well, keep it down," she said, "I'm trying to grade papers next door, and it's very distracting."

"We will," Derek said, making an _x_ over his heart, "Cross our hearts."

Mrs. Gilbert eyed the two over the tiny rim frames perched atop her nose, then left, closing the door behind her. Derek and Casey glanced at each other, and burst out laughing.

"Keep it down, Case," Derek mocked.

She laughed, "You're distracting, Derek."

"I'll show you distracting," he said, pulling her close again.

And the only thing that she could think was, _Perhaps today isn't so bad after all._


	11. Over My Head

_**Author's Note: I'm sorry it took me so long to get this chapter out! I've been very busy. I'm also going to go ahead and apologize in advance for how short/boring this chapter is. But, I still hope you enjoy anyway! More to come soon...I promise!**_

* * *

_Part Eleven: Over my Head_

"Shh…" Derek whispered, twisting Casey's hair between his fingers as she giggled against his lips.

They were in her room, leaning against the door. It was after school on Monday, and each had thought about the incident in the supply room all day. Casey had sat impatiently through three more classes before hurrying home. Derek was already there. Nora was gone to pick up the kids, and there was always a half hour delay between when Derek and Casey got home and when everybody else did. They never noticed it before. Until now.

"You're a good kisser," he continued.

"Does that surprise you?" she asked, trailing kisses down his neck.

He liked the way her lips felt against his skin. They were hot and smooth. And, he _was_ surprised that she was such a good kisser. He had kissed more girls than he could count, and he was pretty sure that the number of guys that Casey had kissed could be counted on one hand.

He bent to capture her lips, but she pulled back slightly, giving him a teasing look. He leaned in again, and she once more dodged him. She bit her lip coyly, teasingly, her eyes gleaming with a sort of mysteriousness.

Without thought, she slipped her hand up underneath his shirt. She wanted to feel the smooth lines of his body. She heard him suck in his breath as her fingertips traced over his abdomen. She liked the way that he wasn't shaped like her; she ran her fingers down the length of his hips until she reached the top of his pants. They weren't kissing now; he was just watching her fingers explore him underneath his shirt.

She could have said that she had wanted to feel him since the moment she laid eyes on him. She could have said that she imagined him feeling this way; sturdy and beautiful. But, she wouldn't let her guard down. Not now.

Her fingers ran over his belly button, then softly over his ribs and to his chest. She laid her palms flat against him, and he felt it searing straight to his heart. Her hands moved from his chest to his back, sending tingles down his spine. She pulled him closer.

"Derek! Casey!" they heard Nora yell.

Stricken from their thoughts, Casey hurriedly tried to pull her hands out from under his shirt. He tried to step back at the same moment, pulling her with him. Nora's footsteps were loud on the stairs. The children were yelling downstairs. They tumbled away from the door, finally pulling away from each other. Derek swung open the door, and Nora was standing there, looking confused.

"I told you, Derek, if you don't stay out of my room, I'm going to kill you!" Casey screamed.

Derek rolled his eyes at Nora, then turned back to yell, "You're the one who took my CDs and won't give them back!"

"You told me I could borrow them!" Casey retorted.

"You two stop arguing now," Nora said, sighing, "And here I was, thinking you were finally getting along with each other, and I come home to find this!"

She threw her hands up, defeated, and walked away. As soon as she disappeared downstairs, Casey smirked at Derek, closing her bedroom door.

* * *

It was after dinner, and while Casey would normally be studying in her room, she was instead sitting on the sofa with Derek watching television. He let her have the remote, and in turn, they were watching the History Channel. Invigorating. Derek wondered how long this could go on. How long would it take before everybody finally noticed that something was going on?

_I mean, come on, you would rather watch paint dry than learn about history,_ Derek thought.

George walked into the room from the kitchen. Derek glanced over at Casey, then snatched the remote out of her hand, changing the channel.

"I was watching that!" Casey yelled, grabbing for the remote, "Give it back!"

They struggled for a few seconds, with George rolling his eyes. The phone rang and he went to answer it. He came back to the sofa and stood over them for a few moments, watching them as they participated in another fight for television control. He cleared his throat, and they both turned to look at him.

"It's for you," he said, handing the phone to Derek.

"Yeah?" Derek said into the phone, and Casey rolled her eyes as his lack of telephone manners.

"Hey, are you up for some hockey?" Sam asked on the other end.

Derek paused, "Sure."

"Meet us there in about half an hour," Sam continued, "And don't be late again, Derek."

"Sure," Derek replied, hanging up.

George and Casey looked at him expectantly, and he stood up.

"I'm going to play hockey with the team," he explained, trotting up the stairs.

He came back a few moments later with his skates in one hand and his hockey stick in the other. Casey grabbed her coat and they both started for the door.

"You're going, Casey?" George asked, sitting on the couch and grabbing the remote, thankful to have a little bit of peace and quiet.

Derek looked at her uneasily, as if asking her what she was doing. She struggled for a moment under their stare, but she smiled brightly.

"Sam's going to be there," she explained, "Duh."

"Well, be home by ten. It's a school night, you know," George said.

"Sure will," Derek said, following behind Casey as they left.

* * *

"I'm going to be late," Derek murmured.

He shouldn't have let her drag him back here in the first place. But, there was something inside of him that couldn't resist it. So, he just pulled her closer. Sam was going to be pissed when they strolled in late. The guys would probably gang up on him on the ice. He would wake up with bruises all over his body. But all he could think about right now was the fact that he was making out with Casey MacDonald behind the ice rink on a Monday night. He had thought about them making out in a thousand different places before. But never here.

_I'm in over my head,_ Derek thought.

Which scared him. He was normally the one in control. He could get the girl, date the girl, dump the girl, then find another girl. It was always him who could make them do whatever he wanted. And now he was doing exactly what Casey wanted. Except that he wanted it, too. Which was strange.

"We really need to go," Derek said, gripping her shoulders and pulling her back.

She smiled, "Okay."

He picked up his skates and hockey stick and they walked around the building to the front. The entire team was already on the ice, absently skating and passing the puck around. Sam noticed Derek first.

"Nice of you to show up," he said.

"Sorry I'm late," Derek said.

Sam noticed Casey a few feet behind, and he straightened, "Hey, Casey. I didn't know you were coming."

"Thought I'd tag along," she shrugged, "Even thought Derek hates it when I do that. Isn't that right?"

She turned to Derek and pinched his cheek. He resisted the urge to smile before he slapped her hand away. She climbed into the bleachers and watched as Derek laced his skates before heading out onto the ice. She had to admit, he was a great hockey player. She felt bad that she had always refused to go to his games. There was a loud thud as someone slammed Derek into the wall. Casey cringed as he shook it off and continued.

After another hour, they finally called it quits. Casey yawned, feeling tired all of a sudden. Even though Derek was the one skating, she still found the sport of hockey extremely boring. Stomping down the bleachers, she wiped at her eyes.

"Tired?" Sam asked, coming up to her, and sitting on the bottom bleacher to unlace his skates.

"Yeah," Casey replied.

Derek came up and sat beside Sam on the bleachers, unlacing his skates as well.

"Do you like the game of hockey any better?" Sam asked, grinning up at her.

Casey shrugged, "What's with all pushing and shoving? Aren't there rules against that? Someone could get hurt."

"Wouldn't you like that, Case?" Derek spoke up with a grin, slipping on his sneakers.

"Only if it was you," she replied.

Sam checked his watch at that moment and declared that he had to get going. Derek noticed that he placed his arm on Casey's to say goodbye before he left. It irked him. The rink cleared and Casey sat down beside Derek on the bleacher.

"You play good," she said.

"I know," he replied.

She smiled and nudged his shoulder, "No, really. I could never do that. I would fall on my butt."

"Nah, you're good at everything," Derek replied, and they both stood up.

"Wait a minute. Did you just say what I think you said?" Casey asked, incredulous and teasing all at once.

He held the door open for her, "Don't let it go to your head."

"Oh, I will," she replied.

They walked home, both tired and strangely in love, and fell asleep with images from the day in their heads.


	12. Until the Pain

_Part Twelve: Until the Pain_

"You cannot be serious," Derek said, incredulous, looking at his father as he sat on the sofa.

George had called him into the living room on Wednesday night. Derek had figured it was just another attempt to create a father-son bond (or, in other words, scold him for not doing his chores and then, after fulfilling the father role, ask him to play a game of hoops in the driveway and forget about the whole thing). But, when he came down and saw his report card glued to his father's hand, he knew he was in big trouble.

"Do I look like I'm kidding?" George asked.

"If I say yes, will I be in trouble?" Derek ventured.

George groaned, "Derek, this is not funny. You are failing two classes, and you have D's in all the rest. There is only four weeks left of school. What were you thinking?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Derek joked, "I wasn't."

Marti ran into the room at that moment in her pajamas. She had just gotten out of the bath, and her hair was still wet. She ran to Derek, and they all heard Nora yelling after her to come back.

"Is Smerek in trouble?" she asked, sitting beside Derek on the sofa.

"Oh, Smerek is in smig trouble," George mocked, "Smerek is going to be smrounded for the rest of his smife."

Marti looked up at Derek, confused, "What did he say, Smerek?"

"Basically, my life is over," Derek clarified, and she nodded.

Nora came into the room at that moment, and looked at Marti, exasperated. She put her hand on her hip and gave her youngest child a scolding look.

"Marti, I haven't finished combing your hair," Nora said, walking to sit on the other side of Marti on the couch, "Come on, turn around."

Marti obliged, turning her back to Nora so she could have her hair combed.

"Smerek's life is over," Marti told Nora.

Nora smiled grimly, "If he doesn't get his grade's up."

"No, that's no good anymore," George said, tossing the report card on a nearby table, "I am tired of you just barely getting by, Derek. Don't you care about your life? Don't you want to go to college and have a future? You can't play hockey the rest of your life, you know. You're going to have to get a real job one day. And you can't do that if you can't even pass the eleventh grade."

Derek laughed, "Dad, it's not that big of a deal. Teachers always give last-minute extra credit opportunities before the end of the year. And the only reason I'm failing those two classes is because I was out sick that whole week and missed those tests. I'll be able to make them up."

"You weren't sick this year," George pointed out.

Derek swallowed hard, "Did I say sick? I meant when we went on that trip for that week."

"We didn't go on a trip, Derek," George replied, frustrated, "You skipped school, didn't you?"

"I really was sick," Derek protested, "I just didn't want to trouble you, so I kept it to myself and stayed out the week."

"Oh? So, you just pretended to go to school, told us made up stories about how your day was at school when we asked you at dinner, and basically lied to us for an entire week?" George asked.

Nora finished combing Marti's hair, and then told her to go ahead and go upstairs to get ready for a story. Marti obliged, happily climbing up the stairs. Nora sighed, leaning back against the sofa.

"Wait a minute," she said, "Wouldn't Casey have noticed if you weren't at school?"

"Casey!" George yelled, "Come here!"

Derek winced. This was definitely not going to way he had planned. The only reason he had stayed out of school that week was because the Maple Leafs were in the conference quarterfinals, and the games only came on during the day. He couldn't miss it. And when Casey had come home that first day and interrogated him about why he hadn't been at school, they had made a deal. He would do her chores for the next two weeks if she kept her mouth shut. It had almost gone off without a hitch.

Casey trotted down the stairs, stopping at the landing before turning to look at Derek. She crossed her arms with a smug look on her face.

"Well, well," she said, "Derek's in trouble again. What a surprise."

"Actually, you're both in trouble," George replied, "Sit down."

Casey scoffed, "I'm in trouble? I haven't even done anything wrong."

George gave her a look of warning, and she went to sit beside Derek on the sofa. What could this possibly be about?

"You hate Derek," George said, clasping his hand behind his back and pacing in front of them.

Casey almost laughed when she noticed that he was taking on the role of interrogator quite readily. All he needed was a Dick Tracy hat and a notepad, and he would be on his way to being a detective in no time.

"Right," Casey affirmed, trying to keep a straight face.

"You hate Derek so much that you probably wouldn't even notice if he was gone," George continued.

She shifted uncomfortably, pulling a pillow onto her lap, "Right."

"But, I find it hard to believe that you went to school an entire week and didn't even notice he wasn't there," George said, stopping his pacing to look hard down at her.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Casey said.

"What did he bribe you with? Money?" George asked.

"He didn't bribe me with anything," Casey replied, "And I don't even know what you're talking about."

"Fine, you don't want to talk?" George asked, "That's fine. Then, you're both grounded."

"What?" Casey asked, tossing the pillow aside and standing up, "This is ridiculous. I haven't even done anything wrong. Derek's the one who skipped school for an entire week, so why am I getting punished?"

Derek groaned, closing his eyes and leaning his head back against the sofa. He stood up as well.

"She's right, Dad," he said, "She didn't do anything wrong, okay? I'm the one who should be in trouble."

"Covering up for a criminal is just as bad as being one," George said, "It's called aiding and abetting. Casey, you're a good kid. You shouldn't be encouraging Derek's bad behavior."

Casey sighed, "I know, I know. And I'm really, really sorry. I won't ever do it again. I promise."

Nora and George exchanged glances. Finally, George relented.

"Fine, you're free to go," he said, before turning to Derek, "But _you_ are still in big trouble."

"Listen, Dad, I'll do anything. Just let me know what you want," Derek replied, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

He was going to get off easy. He knew it. His dad liked to act like he was tough and in control, but when it came right down to it, they were exactly the same. Hadn't he admitted before that he did the exact things in high school as Derek did? This all was going to be a piece of cake.

"Not only are you going to be grounded until the end of the school year," George said, and then when Derek began to protest, George continued louder, "But, you're also going to have to quit the team, Derek."

"What? I can't quit the team. I'm the captain," Derek argued.

"That does seem really unfair," Casey spoke up.

Nora gave her a look of warning, and she quickly shut up. Casey was beginning to feel really terrible for Derek. A few weeks ago, she wouldn't have cared. She would have been thankful that he was getting in trouble, and not her. But now, she just wanted to stick up for him, even if he was wrong.

"And if you wind up having to go to summer school," George continued, "You'll be grounded all summer."

"Dad, this is way extreme. I told you that I would get my grades up," Derek said.

"Well, let's hope so," George said, "Or you're in for a long summer."

Nora stood up and she and George went upstairs. Derek sighed, falling back onto the sofa. What was he going to do? Casey pursed her lips and came to sit beside him.

"I'm sorry, Derek," she said.

"What do you care?" he scoffed, "You're not the one in trouble."

"Derek, I was-"

"Listen, it doesn't matter now," he replied, standing up and picking up the report card from the table.

He studied it for a minute before getting angry and crumbling it up and hurling it across the room. What a night.

"Thanks for sticking up for me," he said.

"What did you expect me to say?" she asked, "You had already admitted to doing it before I even came down here."

"I don't know," he replied, honestly, "I don't know."

He just shook his head and climbed the stairs, slamming his bedroom doorbehind him.

* * *

It was the middle of the night and Casey made sure that everybody was asleep before she dared to open her bedroom door. She had been feeling guilty all night for what happened earlier. Granted, none of it was her fault, but she still felt terrible. Now that her and Derek were…well, whatever they were, she felt she should have done something more. Peering out into the hallway, she cautiously slipped out of her bedroom and made it across to Derek's room. She tried the doorknob, and it was unlocked. She quickly went inside and shut the door quietly behind her.

He was awake, sitting on the edge of his bed. His back was to her, but she could sense that he looked tired. His bed was still slightly made, so she figured that he hadn't even attempted to sleep. She felt sorry for him. No matter how many times he got himself into these messes, she still felt sorry for him.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, "I couldn't sleep, and I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry. I wish there was something I could do."

"My life is over, Casey," he replied.

She walked over to sit beside him. He was turning a hockey puck over and over in his hands. And she was right; he did look tired. She managed a smile, nudging him.

"Your life isn't over, Derek," she said, "You're going to get your grades up. You said so yourself."

He laughed, "Yeah, I said that. But, it doesn't mean that I'm going to be able to."

"Are you failing that bad?" Casey asked.

"You know me," Derek replied, frustrated, "Even if I tried my best for these last four weeks, it wouldn't be good enough. It wouldn't matter if I was failing by four points or forty. I can't do it."

"Sure you can, Derek," Casey said, taking in a breath, "I'll help you. We'll do it together."

Derek paused, "You will?"

"I will," she replied, "And if you want, I'll grade grub for you again. Hey, I'll never be able to shake that nickname, so I might as well just live up to it, right?"

He smiled, "I would really appreciate it."

"Just don't worry about it, okay? It'll all work out," Casey said, "Besides, you know your dad's bark is worse than his bite."

"Were you paying attention, Casey? I mean, he turned all Columbo on me. I was scared," Derek laughed, "He was definitely serious. And now what am I going to tell the team?"

"The truth," Casey said, "You screwed up. So what? We all make mistakes."

Derek put his hand to his chest, "Did you just admit that we all make mistakes?"

"Yeah," Casey replied.

"Which would mean that _you_ have made mistakes?" Derek asked.

Casey laughed, and nudged him again, "Yes, Derek. I have made a few mistakes before. Like, covering for you when you skipped school for an entire week."

Derek smiled and glanced at the clock on his night table. It was later than he thought. He leaned over and kissed Casey on the cheek.

"Go get some sleep," he said, "We've got school tomorrow."

She smiled, standing to leave after she said goodnight. Derek collapsed onto his bed, lost in thought. That was what he liked most about Casey. It wasn't that she was a great kisser or that she was able to make him melt under her touch. It was that when she cared about you, she _really_ cared about you. Once you were on her good side, she would never let anything bad happen to you.

He couldn't believe he had missed out on that for so long.

* * *

"You're what?" Sam asked the next morning as he stood by Derek at his locker.

Derek shrugged, "I've slacked off, and now I'm failing two classes. My dad said I can't play hockey until I get my grades up."

"You're our best player," Sam said, "You can't just quit like that."

"I have to," Derek replied, shutting his locker, "I'm sorry."

Sam sighed, "Man, what are we going to do? Playoffs are in two weeks."

Derek sighed as well. Yeah, the team was a shoe-in for going all the way to the championship. They had been working hard all season to get to where they were. And now he was going to miss out on all of it.

"Well, I'll let the rest of the guys know at practice today," Sam said, slapping his friend on the back, "Sorry."

Derek watched as Sam walked into a classroom. He felt a tap on his shoulder. Relieved, he turned to talk to Casey. He had been wanting to just talk to her all day. She always knew how to make him feel better. Only, it wasn't Casey. It was Hannah.

"So, I was thinking we could go out again this weekend," Hannah said, popping her gum.

Derek started walking for his next class. He had the urge to just slip his headphones onto his ears and tune her out. But that would be rude. However, it was tempting. Hannah stopped at her locker.

"I can't," Derek replied, "I'm grounded."

"You could always sneak out," Hannah said, fingering his collar, "I wouldn't tell anybody."

"Seriously, Hannah," Derek replied, "I can't."

"Is there somebody else?" Hannah asked, pouting her lip.

"No, it's not that," Derek said, as the bell rang for their next class, "Listen, it's nothing personal. I'm just not allowed out of the house for the rest of my life."

"Then, I could come by and we could hang out," she suggested.

"I don't think that's a good idea," he replied, backing away, "I have to get to class. See you later."

He watched as she shut her locker and started off in the other direction. He breathed a sigh of relief before turning around. He ran right into Casey. He smiled.

"I've wanted to talk to you all day," he started, "I just told Sam about quitting to team. The guys are going to be…"

He drifted off when he noticed that there was a look of absolute anger and disgust plastered onto her face.

"What's wrong?" he asked, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

"So, there's nobody else?" Casey asked.

"What are you talking…" he began, and then trailed.

He knew exactly what she was talking about. She had overhead his conversation with Hannah, and now she was pissed.

"Listen, Casey," he said, "I was just trying to get rid of her. It was nothing."

"Except that you told her you weren't seeing anybody," she said.

Derek laughed, "Did you expect me to tell her that I was dating my stepsister?"

Casey shook her head, "You could have just told her that you were seeing someone. She would have gotten the hint that you were taken and left you alone. Or, is it that you don't want her to know that you're taken?"

"Casey, it's not like that," Derek pleaded, as the warning bell rang.

"And to think, I was so worried about helping you pass," Casey laughed bitterly, "And here you are, trying to shack up with Hannah Stevens."

"Casey-"

She brushed past him, "Spare me, Derek. I don't want to hear it."

He watched her disappear into a classroom before he rushed off to history class. His life was going straight to hell faster than he could say _Smerek_.


	13. Burning of a Dream

_Part Thirteen: The Burning of a Dream_

Emily noticed that Casey was definitely pissed off. She watched as her friend threw her books into her locker, roughly hoisted her backpack onto her shoulders, and then slammed her locker door shut. Emily winced as the sound reverberated loudly over the murmurs and chatters of their fellow classmates. She glanced around to see if anybody noticed how angry Casey was, but hardly anybody noticed Casey, ever.

"So, I'm guessing you probably don't want to talk about it," Emily ventured.

"No," Casey replied simply.

They started walking towards the exit. Casey was determined to make it home and to her room before she could start crying. She would have said that she wouldn't cry, that she was stronger than that, and Derek wasn't worth it. But, who was she kidding? Derek was the first guy she had ever _kiss_ kissed. He was the first guy she found herself to really like. She was going to have to grab every box of tissues in the house before she locked herself up for the night.

Emily and Casey pushed through the double doors and stepped outside. Kids were hanging about, waiting for their rides to come, or hurrying onto one of the school buses lined up along the sidewalk. Four weeks until school let out, and everybody was buzzing with excitement. Casey sighed. She always sighed when everybody else was smiling.

"Oh my God," Emily said, nudging Casey, "There's Derek."

Casey glanced up and saw Derek leaning casually against a tree. That was where Casey usually met Emily when they walked home together. Today, they had been able to meet up in the hallway. Her breath caught in her throat for a moment. She quickly took a deeper breath and brushed the feeling aside.

Derek spotted her as she approached. He cleared his throat, and pushed himself off of the tree. He inwardly groaned when he noticed that Emily was with her. Why did she always have to be tagging along? All he wanted to do was talk to Casey privately on the walk home. He would just have to do it when they got to the house.

"Casey," he said, as they neared.

He fell in step beside her and they continued walking. She didn't respond, and there was an uncomfortable silence for a moment.

"So…" Emily said, uneasily, "I am so ready for school to be out. Mr. Henry assigned this terrible group project, and of course, I got put with the dumbest kid in the class. Go figure, right?"

"Yeah," Casey mumbled absently.

Derek wanted to say something, wanted to do anything that would make her feel better. He brushed his arm against hers every once in a while, and he couldn't tell what it was doing to her. She was completely unreadable. Her face was focused straight ahead and she wouldn't even respond to Emily with more than five words.

"I was telling Casey that I think it would be awesome if your family went on a vacation this summer, Derek," Emily said nervously, "I mean, your parents would totally go for a trip to the beach. Don't you think?"

"Yeah," Derek replied, finding it hard to concentrate on the incessant babble coming from Emily's mouth.

Emily sighed, and looked at her watch. She pretended to be surprised.

"Hey, I'm late for…" she began, "something, so I'll just see you tomorrow, okay Casey?"

"Yeah," Casey replied, "Bye."

Emily managed a small smile at Derek before she darted across the street and took a shortcut home. When Emily finally disappeared, Derek opened his mouth to say something, but he silently closed it once more. She was definitely intimidating him. All of the times when they were fighting and she gave him the silent treatment, he could break her. But now, under these very different circumstances, he almost could not.

They walked home the rest of the way in silence. He stayed about a step behind her and watched her as she tossed her backpack aside at the foot of the stairs and went up to her room. He waited a few minutes until he decided to finally just go up and talk to her. They had fifteen minutes before everyone else got home. He could really sit her down and talk to her. He knocked on her door gently, then turned the knob and peered inside. She was sitting on her bed, holding her pillow close.

"What do you want?" she managed, and he noticed that she was already crying.

"Casey, don't cry," he said, closing the door behind him and scooting to sit next to her on the bed.

"What do you care?" she asked, wiping at her eyes.

"I do care," he replied, looking down at his hands, "And you've got this whole thing wrong. You do."

"Do I?" she asked, sniffling.

"Yes," Derek replied, tilting his head so he could look into her eyes.

She notably turned her head away. She didn't want him to see her crying. The tip of her nose always turned blood red, and the areas around her temples and eyes became splotched. Even Derek, with all of his gross habits, wouldn't find the appearance of snot to be charming.

"Look at me," he said, "_please._"

She still wouldn't turn her head, so he gently touched her chin, willing her to face him. She finally relented, turning her face to his, and yet still not making eye contact.

"Casey, please," he pleaded again.

Finally, she allowed her eyes to move up to meet his for a split second. Except that she found when she finally looked at him, she couldn't look away again. He always had that effect on her. He reached up and brushed a tear off of her cheek.

"I don't like Hannah Stevens, okay?" he asked, "I may have once, before…well, before this thing with me and you started. But, Casey, you have to believe me when I say that I wouldn't risk losing what we have for anything."

He sounded so sincere, and his eyes seemed to be begging her. It made her cry even more. She couldn't respond, just gasped for air, and so he pulled her closer. She cried against his chest, and he just wrapped his arms around her and gently stroked her hair.

"What's going on?" someone said.

They both looked up to see Nora standing in the doorway of Casey's bedroom. She had a confused look on her face. Derek pulled back and Casey wiped at her eyes.

"Casey, what's wrong?" Nora asked, gliding across the room to sit on the other side of Casey, "Derek, what did you do?"

Derek stood up quickly, holding up his hands, "I didn't do anything. I was just comforting Casey in…in her time of need."

"Time of need? What is he talking about Casey? What's going on?" Nora asked, tucking a piece of hair behind her daughter's ear.

"I…I just found out that, um…" she struggled, filling in the silence with sniffles, "I just found out that Sam has a girlfriend."

"Oh, honey," Nora said, pulling her daughter in for a hug.

"And I really liked him, too," Casey continued.

Derek felt himself searing inside. But, it was just an act. She was really crying over him. The last thing he should be feeling was jealous. Right now, all she should be feeling was guilty.

"What's going on? Why is Casey crying?" Edwin asked, now standing in the doorway.

Nora looked up and shot him a look of warning. Derek strode over to him, pushing him out of the room, and shutting the door behind them. Casey hiccupped, burying her face into her pillow.

"Don't worry, sweetie," Nora said, "There are plenty of guys out there for you. Sam is just the first of many."

_If you only knew who the second was,_ Casey added silently, _You might not be so supportive._

* * *

Even though he had gone to apologize earlier, Derek still noticed that Casey was somewhat distant. He wondered what she had talked about with her mom. He sat in his recliner in front of the television, flipping through the channels. She was studying in her room. He went upstairs to go to the bathroom a few times, and she was lying on her stomach with her books spread out around her.

He would have gone to talk to her again if everybody wasn't home. Marti kept asking him to play dress up and George kept bugging him about his grades. He checked the clock above the television and noticed that it was getting late. Glancing about the house, he saw the Edwin and Lizzie were engrossed in some game and his dad and Nora were sitting with Marti in the kitchen, coloring.

Sneaking upstairs, he stood in the doorway of Casey's room. It took her a moment to notice him, but when she finally did, she managed a small smile. He sat in the chair at her desk.

"What's that?" he asked, pointing to the book she had in her hand.

"The Sound and the Fury," she replied, "I have to finish it for class tomorrow."

"Hemingway, right?" he ventured.

She smiled, "Faulkner."

They sat for a moment in silence. Her eyes were focused on the pages of her book, but she wasn't reading. She was just waiting for him to say something. They heard the doorbell ring, and there was a subsequent knock.

"Coming!" they heard Nora yell downstairs.

"I just wanted to let you know that I meant everything I said earlier," Derek said, focusing his attention back to Casey, "In case you thought I didn't."

"I know," she replied quietly.

They paused a moment as they listened to the murmured voices downstairs. A few seconds later, Nora appeared in the doorway.

"Sam's here," she said, "Do you want to talk to him?"

Derek and Casey exchanged glances. He was willing her with his eyes to say no. He didn't want Sam up here. However, Casey shrugged and nodded. Nora pursed her lips and disappeared, and a few seconds later, Sam entered the room.

"What's up with your mom?" Sam asked, sitting on Casey's bed, "She seemed kind of icy."

Derek didn't like how Sam sat on her bed. He was too close to her. He didn't like the way that he casually leaned back on his elbows, as if he were being charming. There was something inside of him that he had never felt before. Was it jealousy? It couldn't be. He had never been jealous over any girl in his entire life. He shook his head.

"She's just having a bad night," Casey replied, glancing over at Derek.

She noticed that he had stiffened. Derek's eyes were directly on Sam, and he was watching his every move. She had to bite her lip to keep from smiling. Feeling kind of bad about it at the beginning, she realized that she was just giving him a dose of his own medicine. He constantly had girls hanging all over him, begging him for dates and pleading for his kisses. Now it was his turn to see how it felt.

"Faulkner?" Sam asked, noticing the book that was still in Casey's hand.

She smiled, "Yeah. I'm surprised you knew that."

"It's not _that_ amazing," Derek muttered under her breath.

"You like it?" Sam asked.

She shrugged, "I've read it before."

"Then, why are you reading it again?" he asked.

"I just like to be prepared for class," she replied.

Sam laughed at that moment, loud and boisterous. Derek's eyes narrowed, and he crossed his arms. Casey wasn't sure what to think. She blushed for a moment.

"What?" she asked, "What's so funny?"

His laughter subsided, "You. You and your studying."

"It's not _that_ funny," Derek muttered.

Sam pushed himself up off of his elbows and turned to Casey on the bed. Derek drew in a sharp breath as he watched his friend closely. Casey felt the tension in the room, but Sam seemed oblivious to it all as he placed his hand on hers.

"All right, kids," Derek said, standing up and clapping his hands together, "Party's over. It's getting late. You should probably be headed home."

Casey bit back a grin as Sam said, "Casey and I need a second alone."

Derek looked from Casey back to Sam. He struggled for a moment to find the right words.

"Well, Casey was just about to help me study," he finally choked out, "And I really need the help, you know, with the whole being grounded for eternity thing. So, maybe you and Casey can talk another time."

Sam stood up, slightly confused. He shook his head.

"Okay, whatever," he said, then turned to Casey, "Talk to you at school?"

She nodded politely, and Sam gave Derek one last look before he left the room. Derek watched as Sam made his way down the hallway and to the stairs. It wasn't until he heard the front door slam that he shut the door to Casey's bedroom.

"What?" Casey asked, laughing.

"You were throwing yourself at him," Derek pointed out.

"I was not," Casey replied, rolling onto her back before sitting up.

Her hair spilled over her shoulders, and it was slightly messy. The clip in the back had fallen slightly, and he liked the way it looked. He crossed his eyes and gave her a questioning look.

"And right in front of me, nonetheless," he replied.

"Big word," Casey said, standing, "I'm impressed."

Derek shifted uncomfortably as she stood in front of him. He tried to hold her gaze, but his eyes couldn't help but roam over her body. She was wearing a tank top and shorts, and she noticed that his eyes lingered. Leaning forward, she briefly brushed her lips against his. He moved forward to continue the kiss, but she pulled back.

"Casey…" he murmured, laughing slightly.

She walked around him, placing a hand on his shoulder and leaning in to kiss the back of his neck. She noticed that he shivered slightly. He turned around and bent to kiss her, but she managed to dodge him again.

"Casey…" he pleaded again.

She gripped his shirt and pulled him against her, crushing her lips against his. He moaned her name again, in a deeper desperation than before. She wrapped her arms around his neck and sighed against his lips. He gently edged his tongue into her mouth as his hands roamed her body.

"What are you doing?" they heard.

They broke apart quickly and Marti was standing there in her nightgown, a teddy bear clutched in her hands. Derek stepped away from Casey and ran his fingers through his hair.

"We were just saying goodnight," Casey spoke up.

"Which reminds me…" Derek said, hoisting his little sister into his arms, "You should be in bed, shouldn't you?"

"I couldn't sleep," Marti replied, "I was having a dream about a giant panda!"

"Oh no!" Derek replied, winking at Casey, "Well, let's go see if we can't scare that giant panda away."

Marti smiled and they started for the door. Casey thought about how cute Derek looked as he held Marti in his arms. Just as they were almost down the hall, Casey tentatively called out,

"Hey Derek!"

He stopped and turned to her, "Yeah?"

"We'll continue this later?" she asked.

He smiled, "You bet."


	14. Nevertheless

_Part Fourteen: Nevertheless_

Casey heard the door to her bedroom creak open that night. In the dark, she smiled to herself. She heard as Derek quietly shut it behind him, and then locked it. He pulled the covers back and gently nudged her over. Scooting in beside her, he propped his head up and strained to see her in the dark.

"I thought you were kidding when you said you wanted to continue this later," Casey whispered.

He reached over and brushed the hair out of her face. His fingertips lingered on her face, his thumb gently stroking her cheek. He leaned forward and briefly pressed his lips against hers.

"You're beautiful," he said.

Casey laughed, "You can't even see me."

"I don't have to see you to know you're beautiful," Derek replied.

Casey reached up and pulled his hand away from her face, intertwining her fingers with his. It felt strange to have him in her bed and under her covers. But, it felt so right at the same moment. His bare leg bumped against hers and she felt some kind of jolting waves run through her. His fingers twisted themselves free from hers and he reached up to play with the strap of her tank top.

"Derek…" she laughed nervously, reaching up to push his hand away.

"What?" he replied, scooting towards her and gently pushing her onto her back.

He positioned himself on top of her, and he noticed that she squirmed slightly underneath him. She probably thought that he was expert at these kinds of things. She probably thought that he was completely comfortable when it came to situations like these. But, inside, he was trembling. Sure, it was easy to do these things with girls he didn't care about. But a girl like Casey?

Now, that was a different story.

"We shouldn't be doing this," Casey whispered.

"Nobody will know," he replied, bending to kiss her.

"Nevertheless…" she replied, her voice shaking.

He heard the waver in her voice. Her chest was heaving heavily against his. He gently pushed her hair away from her neck and placed soft kisses on her exposed skin. Her hands snaked up under his shirt and her fingertips trailed along his back.

"This shouldn't be happening," she spoke up.

As his lips met her collarbone, she sharply arched her back, pressing into him. She wanted him. And she could tell that he wanted her, too. There was some kind of force coming over her, and she just let it happen. Gripping the edge of his shirt, she slowly pushed it up and over his head. He let out a little laugh as she tossed it to the floor.

She was able to snake a hand in between them, and she pressed her palm against his bare chest. It was like she had done that first Saturday when they were alone. It was the moment she had realized that something was happening, because it had affected her. It was affecting her now, too.

Derek's hands were gripping the bottom of her tank top. She felt the warmth of his hands against her stomach. He looked down into her eyes, as if asking her if it was okay. She was determined to let this happen. She wanted this to happen. But, at the last moment, there was a flicker of something in her eyes, and he noticed it.

"Case, what's wrong?" he asked, his hands loosening the grip on her shirt.

Tears began to fill her eyes, "I…I'm sorry, Derek."

"Sorry for what?" he asked, his eyes glazed over with concern.

"I just can't do this," she replied.

A solitary tear rolled down her cheek and he reached up to wipe it away. His heart swelled deep inside his chest. He felt as the tightness there became harder and harder. He rolled off of her and sat up, and she sat up as well. She glanced over at him, his bare chest illuminated in the moonlight that filtered in through her window. She couldn't believe that this was happening. How could she ruin the moment like that? He probably hated her.

Derek did something she didn't expect. He reached over and pulled her close. She buried her face in his chest, feeling the comfort of his arms around her. Strange, how they seemed to fit together perfectly.

"I'm sorry," she repeated.

"Don't be sorry," he replied, tipping her chin up so he could look into her eyes, "Don't ever apologize for not doing something you don't want to do."

"I want to," Casey insisted, "It's just that I don't think I'm ready. I know you're used to being with girls who…have experience with these kinds of things. I just can't be like that."

"Hey…hey…" Derek said softly, "First of all, I don't want you to be anybody but who you are. The annoying, beautiful girl that you are," and she laughed in response, so he continued, "And second of all, what makes you think that I've been with anybody?"

"I just figured…" she drifted, "I mean, you always have girls hanging all over you. Besides, you seem to know what you're doing."

Derek smiled, "And you're the smart one?"

She let out a small laugh, "Have I got it wrong?"

He leaned forward to gently press his lips against hers, "You've got it all wrong. I've never been with anybody, Casey."

Her eyes brightened, "Really?"

"Really…" he replied, teasing her slightly, "Come on, I'm not _that_ bad."

"Well, you've got everybody at school fooled," Casey replied shyly, "Including me."

"I do have a reputation to uphold," Derek replied, pretending to pop his collar.

"Hey now," she replied, "I don't care about your reputation as long as you're upholding it with me."

"Only you," he replied, kissing her again.

"You're not mad?" she asked tentatively.

"Of course not," he replied, pulling the sheets up onto her waist, "Let's go to sleep."

She smiled up at him, and he watched her until she fell asleep.

* * *

It was four weeks later, and Derek was waiting nervously for the mail. School had let out a few days earlier and he was anxiously awaiting his report card. Casey had been helping him with his schoolwork (and a few others things), and he was pretty sure he had been able to save his grades. Sure, they had taken a few breaks now and then to…study other things. When he had gone to his teachers for an early estimation, they had been tight-lipped. They weren't allowed to discuss grades with the students until report cards had been issued.

So, here he was, peering out the curtains in the living room. Why was the mail running late today? It seemed the every time he didn't want the mail to come, it came early. And the postman was usually whistling. Today, he was nowhere to be seen. He felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Nervous?" Casey asked.

He managed a small smile, "How could you tell?"

"Well, besides the fact that you're shaking the whole sofa," she pointed to his rapidly bouncing leg, "And that your eyes have been glued to that mailbox for the past hour," she pointed out the window, "You're actually awake and it's not even eleven o'clock yet."

She quickly glanced around the house before bending to kiss his cheek and give him a reassuring pat on the back. They saw the flash of light that always hit the living room window when a car was turning the corner onto their street. After a few anxious moments, there was the postman. Derek was up and on his feet, flinging open the door and running to him at the box. He grabbed all of the mail and shuffled through it.

Casey watched him out the window as he pulled out a white envelope and stared at it. He slowly strode back to the house, tossing the rest of the mail onto the sofa. He licked his lips and turned the envelope over and over in his hands.

"Are you going to open it?" Casey asked.

He shook his head, "I can't."

Putting a hand on her hip, she replied, "You will. Derek, you've worked so hard. And it's right there in your hands. Just open it!"

He stared at the envelope for a second longer before letting out a sigh. He extended it to her.

"You open it," he said.

"Are you sure?" she asked, reluctantly taking it from him.

"Yeah," he replied, "You do it. It'll be easier."

She gave him one last uneasy look before slipping her finger underneath the flap of the envelope. She saw the school's crest in the upper left corner, and prayed that Derek had been able to bring his grades up. She pulled out the sheet of paper and quickly scanned over it. Derek was looking at her anxiously.

"Derek…" she began.

He groaned, shutting his eyes, "I didn't pass, did I?"

She smiled, "You passed everything!"

His eyes flew open, and a grin was spreading on his face, "What? You're kidding. Let me see."

He pulled the report card out of her hand and examined it. She smiled at him. It was strange to see Derek excited about anything besides girls and hockey. He pulled her in for a hug.

"I couldn't have done it without you," he whispered.

She smiled, and then poked him, "I know."

"Dad!" Derek yelled, jogging up the stairs.

Casey sat down in the recliner, not able to wipe the smile off of her face. Things were finally beginning to come together for her. She had found somebody she cared about. She had stopped fighting with Derek. Everything was working out perfectly.

"Hey Casey," Lizzie said, sitting on the sofa, "What's up? Did Derek pass?"

"Yeah," Casey replied, smiling, "With flying colors."

Lizzie regarded her strangely, "And you're happy about that? I thought you hated Derek."

Casey shrugged, "He's not so bad."

Lizzie shook her head and picked up the remote to turn on the television. Casey heard her mother calling her name from upstairs, and she hoisted herself out of the recliner. She went into her parents' bedroom and saw her mother and George getting ready for something. Derek was standing there, report card still in hand.

"Derek passed," George said.

"So I heard," Casey replied, crossing her arms and leaning against the door frame.

"Thanks for helping him out," her mother said, giving her an endearing smile.

"It was no problem," Casey shrugged.

There was a moment of silence as George paused while he tied his shoe and her mother dropped the earring she was trying to put in. Derek grinned at her sheepishly, picking at the edge of the report card in his hand.

"It was no problem _this _time," Casey corrected herself, "But I won't do it again. I swear, Derek. You're on your own next time."

"Whatever," Derek replied, brushing past her and to his room.

Casey rolled her eyes at her parents, and turned to leave. She went to her room for a few seconds until she heard her parents go downstairs. Then, she quietly slipped into Derek's room. He was already waiting there for her.

"Thanks, Casey," he said, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"Like I said, no problem," she replied with a grin, "Just don't let it happen again."

He pulled her in for a kiss. She sighed against his lips as they moved smoothly over her own. He always tasted so right, and she was never sure why.

_Because he's Derek,_ Casey reminded herself, _Everything about him is right._

Her arms snaked up around his neck and she deepened the kiss, parting his lips with her tongue. He accepted, pulling her closer against his body. Every time she kissed Derek she felt those familiar butterflies in her stomach. She felt like it was the first time, every time. He mumbled something against her lips, and she pulled back slightly.

"Huh?" she asked, looking into his eyes.

He released his grip on her waist, stepping back and looking at her bashfully. Her arms fell from around his neck, hanging loosely at her sides. She looked concerned.

"I love you," he repeated.

Casey's eyes went wide for a moment, and she was finding it hard to breathe. Derek noticed her lack of a response, and bit his lip, turning his back to her.

"I shouldn't have said anything," he replied, and she could hear the hurt in his voice.

There was this feeling inside of her chest that she had never felt before. Her whole body was glowing from it. He had said the words she had been waiting for. It was strange how she hadn't been aware that she was waiting for them. But now, after he had said them, something had clicked inside of her.

"I love you, too," she replied.

He had to bite back a grin. He turned to face her again, pulling her into his arms and spinning her around once. He knew that she thought it was corny, like that movie they had watched with Hannah Stevens that fateful Saturday. But, he didn't care. He finally understood why guys did that in movies.

Cupping her face in his hands, he gently leaned in to kiss her. He kissed her sweetly, so sweet, it made her want to cry. A loud banging on his door interrupted them, and they quickly jumped apart. She crossed her arms over her chest defensively as George opened the door.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Derek took my headphones and he won't give them back," Casey declared.

George shot his son a look of warning, "Derek."

Derek sighed, fumbling through the mess on his desk before retrieving a pair of headphones. He tossed them to Casey and she smirked at him.

"Did you need something?" Derek asked casually, flopping onto his bed.

"Nora and I are taking the kids to see Grandpa Harold today," George replied, "We were thinking about leaving you two here. That is, if you two can quit fighting."

Casey sighed, "I guess that would be okay."

"Just tell Casey to stay out of my room," Derek replied absently.

"You guys know how to behave," George replied, "We'll be back tonight."

Lizzie came up to Derek's bedroom just as George was turning to leave. She rushed over to Casey and gripped her hand, looking up at her older sister with big, pleading eyes. Casey smiled.

"Please don't let them take me," Lizzie begged.

"It won't be so bad," Casey reassured her, patting her head.

Lizzie gave Casey a doubtful look, "Last time we were there, he wouldn't stop talking. And when he finally noticed me, he thought that I was a girl scout."

Casey muffled a laugh with her hand as Nora called for Lizzie to come downstairs. Lizzie gave Casey one last look of desperation. Casey felt bad for her little sister, but all she could do was apologize and tell her to keep her chin up.

"You are so lucky," Edwin said, coming into the room at that moment and plopping beside Derek on his bed, "You and Casey always get to stay home while we go get tortured."

"Hey, Casey and I suffered last time, remember?" Derek reminded him, "Besides, we have seniority."

"Seniority?" Edwin scoffed, "Maybe in the number of depleted brain cells."

Derek leaned over and pushed his little brother off of his bed. Edwin rubbed his elbow as he stood up.

"I can't wait to be a teenager," Edwin sighed, glancing at Derek and Casey once more before disappearing out of the room.

Casey laughed at Derek as he placed his hands behind his head. She went to sit beside him on his bed. She poked him, and he recoiled slightly. He turned to her and pulled her onto him. She struggled for a moment, but rather liking the feel of his body against hers, she let him move her without restraint. Her hair fell over their faces like a curtain, and she smiled down at him. He leaned up to press a kiss to her lips.

"Are you two saying goodnight again?" a voice asked.

Casey rolled off of Derek fast, and he sat up. It was Marti. They both laughed. Derek reached over and pulled Marti into his lap. She giggled.

"Are you going to be good for Grandpa Harold?" Derek asked.

She nodded, and he kissed the top of her head. Nora called for Marti downstairs, and Derek placed her back on the ground. She raced out of the room. Casey and Derek paused a moment as they heard the sound of the front door open. It shut, and it was only a matter of seconds before they heard the minivan start outside. Derek peered out of his window and saw that they had already disappeared off the block.

"So…" he said, strolling to meet Casey in the middle of his room.

"I don't know what you're thinking, Derek Venturi, but I'm pretty sure I won't like it," Casey said, crossing her arms.

He pulled her to him, but she refused to uncross her arms. He laughed and kissed her lightly on the lips.

"I was thinking something along the lines of this," he said, deepening the kiss.

She broke away for a moment, "Okay, you've convinced me."

Casey wrapped her arms around Derek's neck, feeling completely content with where she was. Any other normal day, she would have hated to have been left alone with Derek. Now, everything was different.

Here she was, in his arms, and she was completely sure that it was exactly where she was meant to be.

_The End_


End file.
